African Super League is coming, CAF reveals

CAF President Patrice Motsepe has revealed that the Confederation of African Football will launch the African Super League from August 2023, with the prize money racking up to $100m.

Talks about the formation of the African Super League started in November 2019, after FIFA President Gianni Infantino visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo to celebrate the 80th anniversary of TP Mazembe.

Following a meeting held with 40 clubs at a CAF congress on Sunday, Motsepe announced that the first edition of the African Super League will take place in 2023.

The African Super League/CAF Super League will be an annual continental club football competition run by CAF that includes 24 of Africa's elite teams.

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The idea behind the tournament is to generate massive financial returns expected to exceed $200 million that will be channelled towards the development of stadiums in Africa, infrastructure and the promotion of African football. 

Additionally, if a team wishes to play in the Super League, they will need an academy and a women’s team.

CAF, however, are yet to disclose the tournament's format or how the Super League teams would be chosen.

Motsepe also revealed CAF's decision to revert the finals of the CAF inter-club competitions: the Champions League and Confederations Cup, back to a two-legged final following this year's controversial incident between Wydad Casablanca and Al Ahly.

The 2022 edition of the Champions League was decided over one leg at the Stade Mohammed V in Morocco as the Moroccan FA had been the only ones that bid to host the final after the Senegalese FA pulled off their bid. 

CAF's decision to eventually award the final to them incited outrage from the Egyptian FA, particularly from Al Ahly's president Mahmoud Khatib.

Speaking on the issue of one-legged finals, Motsepe said, “This will never happen again. It (one-legged finals) is something I inherited, it’s something I could not change, the decision was taken before me.”