CAF officially announce welcome change in format for its club competitions

The Confederation of African Football led by its president Issa Hayatou have announced a change in its club competitions - CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup - format effective 2016/17 season.


The federation through its Organising Committee for Interclub Competitions came to the conclusion following its 38th CAF Ordinary General Assembly in Cairo Egypt on Tuesday. What this means is that instead of the current 8 teams competing at the group stage, the two competitions will have an additional 8 clubs competing at the group stage for each competition. The idea of 16 teams competing at that level has been lauded by fans.

A statement on their official site today reads:

After the preliminary round, 32 teams will qualify for the 1/16th round in both competitions.  

The winners of the 1/16th round in the CAF Champions League, will after the drawing of lots, be divided into four groups of four teams each. After a round-robin of matches (home and away), the first two of each group will qualify for the quarter-finals, which opens a new phase of knockout matches till the final. Clubs finishing top of each group will host the second leg of the quarterfinals. 

For the CAF Confederation Cup, the 16 teams qualified after the 1/16th round will engage the losers from the 1/16th round of the CAF Champions League to decide on the 16 teams for the group stage. Thereafter, the format remains same as the CAF Champions League.

CAF now have 20 calendar dates for club competitions that will go from March to November for the CAF Champions League and until December for the CAF Confederation Cup.