Saudi Arabia To Dole Out $200m For The Money Spinning CAF Super League

Saudi Arabia To Dole Out $200m For The Money Spinning CAF Super League

By Admin

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) are currently in talks with Saudi Arabia over sponsorship of the African Super League. The United Kingdom based news outlet revealed that the Arab nation are willing to pay $200 million (£160 million) to sponsor the League.

This tournament is part of CAF’s development plan to grow interest in African football as well as improve its revenue. This tournament was first talked about by FIFA President Gianni Infantino in 2018 at TP Mazembe's 80th anniversary celebration in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

He said that the best 20 clubs in Africa should be picked and required to play in this league and Infantino predicted that this league will earn $100 million in revenue, ranking it among the top ten leagues in the world. Some NPFL sides will surely have their sights set on a spot in this competition.

He also announced that he was launching an appeal to collect $1 billion to build a FIFA-compliant football stadium in each African nation.

When the tournament was eventually launched in 2022, it was presented with the following format.

Proposed African Super League format

There will be a total of 24 teams in the competition, separated into three regionalized groups (North, Central/West, and South/East), with a maximum of three teams per nation. The qualifying teams will come from 16 nations.

The competition will have 197 matches, promotion/relegation play-offs, and a maximum of 21 matches for the winners.

The final will be contested in a single game and is intended to serve as “the Super Bowl of Africa.”

The winners of this tournament will earn $11.6 million. There will also be a solidarity fund that will provide each of the 54 CAF members with the sum of $1 million every year for the advancement of football.

Although this was the announced format, there will be a smaller format, with eight teams participating in the tournament. The Saudi sponsored tournament will be delayed for a year and launch in the 2024/2025 season.

CAF And Saudi Arabian Football's Latest Partnership

Recently, CAF signed a five-year deal with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation to “foster growth opportunities for African and Saudi Arabian football”.

CAF president Patrice Motsepe said: “CAF is excited to work together and partner with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation to develop and grow football on our continent and globally.

“There are also specific areas for mutually beneficial partnerships that we are discussing and announcements will be made in due course.”

“There is a huge will to invest in a project like this, which will give a new visibility to African football,” Gianni Infantino said of the new African Super League in October. “The growth of African club and national-team football contributes to the growth of world football. The competition will benefit each and every country, not just with the solidarity payment, but the exposure for African football.”

This partnership between the Saudis and CAF could potentially help the Arab nation’s bid to host a FIFA World Cup in the future. Last year, Saudi Arabia’s Sports Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal says Saudi Arabia would love to host a future World Cup and it looks like 2030 is their target for a bid. This is despite FIFA’s rules preventing Asian Football Confederation nations from hosting a men’s World Cup until 2034.