CAF adopts new format for club competitions

CAF adopts new format for club competitions

The Caf Champions League will now have 16 teams participate in the group stage of the competition, same as the Caf Confederation Cup

The Confederation of African Football Committee for Interclub competitions has sanctioned a new layout for the Caf Champions League and the Caf Confederation Cup.

President Issa Hayatou announced this as the 38th Caf ordinary general assembly staged in Mexico City.

Both competitions will now have 16 teams at the group stage – and this takes effect from 2017.

After the preliminary round, 32 teams will book a place for the Round of 16 in both competitions. The winners of this round will after drawing of lots, be placed 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.

With this, Caf now has 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.