Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Patrice Motsebe will launch an “African Super League” in Tanzania on Wednesday, with promises of up to $100 million in prizes for clubs struggling with cash.
African club owners have been complaining for decades about the costs of participating in the current top-tier competition, the CAF Champions League, which offers a $2.5 million first-place prize out of a prize pool of just $12.5 million. So, after his club Mamelodi Sundowns won the CAF Champions League in 2016, 60-year-old South African billionaire businessman and CAF President Motsebe admitted that the prize money does not cover all costs.
Accordingly, Motsebe assured that “more profitable business awaits us” as he will reveal the details of the Super League in the Tanzanian city of Arusha on Wednesday during a meeting of the KAF executive office.
He had previously revealed that the prize pool would be $100 million and hinted that the champion would receive at least $10 million.
“We want CAF Super League to become a global competition and compete against the best in the world in terms of football quality, resources, infrastructure, stadiums, referees and tickets,” Motsebe said.
“The Super League will be organized in partnership with FIFA, which has a wealth of experience in managing the best competition in the world, the World Cup,” he added.
On the other hand, Infantino said: “The Super League is an exciting and unique project and FIFA is happy to help and share the experience we have gained.”
Although no further details about the upcoming competition have been officially announced, it is expected that 24 clubs will participate in the first edition.
These clubs will be distributed as follows: eight from North Africa, which dominate football on the continent, eight from the center of the continent and eight from the South.
Invitations to the new competition will be based on the results of two annual tournaments, the African Champions League and the Confederation Cup.
Leading the way from the north are Zamalek and Al Ahly from Egypt, defending champion Wydad Casablanca and his compatriot Raja Casablanca, and Esperance from Tunisia.
It is also certain that TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a five-time African champion, will be among the midfield clubs.
The Sundowns, a Pretoria club owned by Motsepa and run by his son Tluban, will also be among the entrants from clubs in the South whose clubs have qualified for the continental tournament playoffs since 2016.
A CAF spokesperson suggested that after the preliminary round, which is divided by geographic region, there will be three playoffs before advancing to the final.
