CAF Lists Enyimba, Al Ahly, Espérance, Others For Inaugural African Football League

CAF Lists Enyimba, Al Ahly, Espérance, Others For Inaugural African Football League

Ibrahim Lateef

Two-time CAF Champions League title holder Enyimba has been listed among 

Africa’s highest-ranked football clubs will compete in the exciting new ‘Super’ competition, the Inaugural African Football League (AFL) in October, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

The AFL, according to CAF is designed to showcase the best of African club football and provide football fans in Africa and around the world, the opportunity to see and enjoy the very best of the beautiful game on the African Continent.

The AFL is a partnership between CAF and FIFA. The Inaugural edition of the AFL will feature 8 of Africa’s most famous and successful teams from the 3 African Regional Blocks which are: the North Region, the Central-West Region and the South-East Region.

Egyptian giants Al Ahly Football Club, Tunisia’s Espérance Sportive de Tunis, and Wydad Athletic Club from Morocco are the football clubs from the North Region.

The clubs from the Central-West Region are Nigeria’s Enyimba Football Club and the DRC’s Tout Puissant Mazembe.

Enyimba, already dumped out of the CAF Champions League, will be looking to build on their remarkable success on the continent and make amends for their preliminary stage exit.

Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club from South Africa, Angola’s Atlético Petróleos de Luanda, and Tanzania’s Simba Sports Club are football clubs from the South-East Region.

The draw for the Inaugural AFL competition will be held in Cairo, Egypt, on 2 September 2023, at 19H00, Cairo Time, and will be streamed live on the AFL website and televised by CAF’s broadcast partners.

The fixtures of the Inaugural AFL competition are structured on a home-and-away basis. The competition starts with knock-out quarter-finals and and will be followed by the semi-finals and the final; all of which are played over two legs. 

This historic Inaugural edition of the AFL will take place over four weeks, kicking off with the Opening Ceremony and the first match on 20 October 2023 in Dar es Salam, Tanzania.

The semi-finals will take place between 29 October and 1 November.

The final matches which will determine the winner of the Inaugural AFL competition will take place on 5 and 11 November 2023.