Africa Super League

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Africa Super League
Organising bodyCAF
Founded17 July 2021; 2 years ago (2021-07-17)
RegionAfrica
Number of teams24 (from 16 associations)
Related competitionsCAF Champions League
CAF Confederation Cup
WebsiteOfficial website
2023–24 Africa Super League

The Africa Super League will be an annual continental club football competition run by the CAF and is set to kickoff in August 2023.[1] It was announced on 28 November 2019 by Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA. It was launched 10th August 2022 in Tanzania, and will include twenty-four of the elite African teams with a promotion/relegation system.[2]

The essence of holding this tournament is the huge financial returns that will exceed the barrier of 100 million dollars, which will be used to develop and improve stadiums, infrastructure and the promotion of football in Africa.[3]

History

Gianni Infantino launched the tournament during a visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to celebrate the 80th anniversary of TP Mazembe. He said the top 20 clubs in Africa should be chosen and made to participate in an African league. And that this league would generate revenues of $ 100 million, making it among the top ten leagues in the world. Infantino revealed that he is launching an appeal to raise a billion dollars in order to give every African country a real football stadium with the specifications of the FIFA.

In 17 July 2021 The President of CAF, Patrice Motsepe confirmed the move to implement the African Super League project as a new tournament ran under the umbrella of CAF, with large financial returns for the sides taking part.[4] The Confederation of African Football launched the competition on 10 August 2022 in Arusha, Tanzania, where we had more info about what the competition will be.

CAF wants to start the competition in August of 2023 and reports suggest that 24 clubs will feature in three groups of eight teams ahead of a knockout stage starting at the Round of 16. These teams will be taken from the best-ranked African clubs over the past few years, with groups to be played on a regional basis (North, Central/West, South/East). All participants will be required to have a youth academy and a women’s team as part of their club licensing criteria.[5]

Format

Details about the format were announced during the launch ceremony:

  • The competition will count with 24 teams divided into 3 regionalized groups (North, Central/West, South/East) with 8 teams per group and a maximum of 3 teams per country
  • The teams will be from over 16 different countries, representing approximatively 1 billion people
  • The competition will have 197 matches, with a maximum of 21 matches played by the finalists, and promotion/relegation play-offs
  • The final will be played in a single match, on a final designed to become "the Superbowl of Africa".

Money Distribuition

The Prize money of the Africa Super League will be USD 100 million, with the winner receiving USD 11.5 million and each participant receiving an initian cash injection of USD 2.5 million.[6] Some of the funding from the Africa Super League will be used to allocate USD 1 million per annum to each of CAF’s 54 Member Countries, which is a total of USD 54 million per annum to develop football in all the African countries.

CAF will also receive USD 50 million per annum to develop football for boys and girls, to employ world-class staff, to improve and to make all its other competitions attractive and appealing to football spectators, TV viewers, sponsors and other partners. The Africa Super League will support the growth of club football, the construction and maintenance of football infrastructure and facilities, as well as the training and the retention of football talent on the African Continent.

Controversies

The project is subjected to criticism for the unrealistic expectations of financial returns. The current continental championships in Africa will experience weak infrastructure, high travel costs for fans and teams, which will not be resolved automatically by new competition. There are already significant financial disputes between the major teams in North Africa, South Africa and the rest of the continent, which can exacerbate the new competition.[7]

It is also doubtful whether the competition can arouse the public's attention. In addition, the impact of the new championship on the current Confederation of African Football Championships such as the CAF Champions League, the CAF Confederation Cup and local leagues.[8]

The Confederation of African Football has also been described as a laboratory of experiments, due to the acceptance of the proposal to establish the Super League in Africa and the rejection of European Super League in April 2021.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ "African Super League: Which 20 teams should be included? | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  2. ^ "African Super League: Predicting the first 20 teams | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  3. ^ "Super League : Gianni Infantino affiche l'opposition ferme de la FIFA | Africa Foot United". africafootunited.com (in French). Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  4. ^ "African Super League Officially Approved". beIN SPORTS. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  5. ^ "More African Super League talk as Motsepe says it will be FIFA run and privately funded". insideworldfootball. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  6. ^ Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "CAF launches groundbreaking Africa Super League". CAFOnline.com. Retrieved 2022-08-19.
  7. ^ Price, Steve. "FIFA Boss Gianni Infantino's African Super League Plan And The Many Problems It Faces". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  8. ^ "African Super League: What are the unanswered questions? | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  9. ^ "CAF Announces "Africa Super League"". VOA. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
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