The African Super League competition will take place in October or November, with eight teams participating in the new Confederation of African Football (Caf) competition.
This was revealed by Caf secretary-general Veron Mosengo-Omba, who spoke on the sidelines of the inaugural African Schools Football Championship final in Durban last week.
The continent’s football governing body initially hinted that its new baby would kick off with a 24-team line-up, but that number has been pushed to the back burner.
Caf has not disclosed prospective participants in the maiden edition of the Super Cup. However, it is believed teams that have been regular top performers in the Champions League and Confederation Cup in recent years will be among the first eight to feature.
“There will be two criteria to select the clubs,” Mosengo-Omba explained.
“One, the clubs will be chosen according to the Fifa/Caf rankings and then according to the facility (stadiums) you have. If you have no facility, you cannot come. There’s an objective criteria to choose these eight.
“The first tournament will start in mid-October or November, where eight best clubs of Africa will compete. So we’ll launch the first edition this year.
“The competition remains as a 24-team tournament, but for this edition we’ll start with eight and then next year we’ll have 24,” added Mosengo-Omba.
Speculation has been rife on the continent regarding the names of the eight, but the majority of those in this year’s Champions League quarterfinals stand a good chance.
Petro de Luanda (Angola), TP Mazembe (DR Congo), Horoya (Guinea), Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco), Simba SC (Tanzania) and Esperance de Tunis (Tunisia) are among the names that have been bandied about, alongside Mamelodi Sundowns.
But with Petro and Horoya having failed to make the last eight of this year’s Champions League, teams like Morocco’s Raja Casablanca, CR Belouizdad and JS Kabylie (both of Algeria), and Simba SC of Tanzania, who are in the last eight, may be considered.
Mazembe may also be out of the running despite winning five Champions League titles in the past. The Lubumbashi club failed to make the last eight of the Confederation Cup last month and the winner of that competition in May could take their place.
When Caf president Patrice Motsepe last spoke about the tournament in Tanzania in November, he said Africa’s football governing body had set aside $100m (about R1.8bn), with clubs taking part each standing to receive a $1m (about R18m).
The first tournament will start in mid-October or November, where eight best clubs of Africa will compete. So we’ll launch the first edition this year
The breakdown of the prize money remains unknown.
Mosengo-Omba said Caf will announce the finer details of the Super League closer to its kickoff. Motsepe insisted last year that the Super League will not mean the end of the Champions League and Confederation Cup, but that it will help African clubs fine-tune their image, buy top players and improve their facilities.
South Africa’s two biggest clubs, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, who have been reduced to minions by Sundowns in the PSL in recent years, were likely to be added to the Super League if it was to start with 24 teams.
Safa president Danny Jordaan told the Sunday Times in August last year that if the Super League had 24 teams, Chiefs and Pirates would definitely be considered alongside Sundowns, winner of the Champions League in 2016.
Sundowns will face Belouizdad in the first leg of the Champions League in Algeria on Saturday and host the return leg on April 29. The Brazilians have failed to progress to the semifinals of Africa’s prime competition for the past three seasons.
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