Africa launches its football “Super League”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino in Sydney, Australia, August 20, 2023. ASANKA BRENDON RATNAYAKE / REUTERS Africa has become the first continent to formalize the creation of a “Super League”. In August, Patrice Motsepe, the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) took advantage of the body’s congress to confirm the organization of this new […] Africa has become the first African continent to formalize the creation of a "Super League". The African Football League, named after Patrice Motsepe, president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), will begin on 20 October in Dar es Salaam. The winner will receive 3.8 million euros, the finalist will receive 2.8, the semi-finalists will 1.6 and the quarter-finals will be held in Al-Ahly. The new competition will involve 24 teams, selected according to sporting and geographical criteria, with the continent divided into three zones in 2024. The prizes will also increase, with a gain of 5.6 million euros for the winner. However, questions have been raised about the choice of teams and the scheduling of other competitions.
نشرت : منذ عامين بواسطة David Sadler في Sports
Africa has become the first continent to formalize the creation of a “Super League”. In August, Patrice Motsepe, the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) took advantage of the body’s congress to confirm the organization of this new competition from 2023. Finally called the African Football League, it will begin on Friday 20 October with the meeting in Dar es Salaam between the Tanzanians of Simba SC and the Egyptians of Al-Ahly.
The other posters will pit Enyimba Aba (Nigeria) against Wydad Casablanca (Morocco), Tout Puissant Mazembe (DRC) against Esperance sportive de Tunis (Tunisia) and Petro de Luanda (Angola) against Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa). ), the club of which Patrice Motsepe is the owner. The return matches will be played on October 24 and 25, the semi-finals on October 29 and 1er November and the final on November 5 and 11. The winner will receive 3.8 million euros, the finalist 2.8, the semi-finalists 1.6 and the quarter-finalists 945,000 euros.
Initially, this new competition was to involve twenty-four teams, selected according to sporting but also geographical criteria, with the continent divided into three zones, notably for the group stage (north, center and west, south and east). This will be the case in 2024, after CAF has chosen the clubs invited to participate. The prizes will also be increased, with a gain of 5.6 million euros for the winner.
The project to create this competition did not come from Africa, but from FIFA and its president, the Italian-Swiss Gianni Infantino, during two trips to the Democratic Republic of Congo in November 2019 and to Morocco three months later. late. An idea to which Patrice Motsepe, elected head of CAF in 2021, quickly rallied.
An identical formula had also been considered by twelve European clubs in 2021, among which were Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Juventus Turin, the two Milan and the two Manchester clubs. This wish, dear to Fiorentino Perez, the president of Real Madrid but contested by UEFA and rejected by a majority of public opinion, attached to the principle of open competitions where the clubs are not always the same, ultimately did not successful.
In Africa, the creation of this third continental competition, after the Champions League and the CAF Cup, has aroused less hostility than in Europe, but nevertheless raises many questions among those involved in continental football.
The Moroccan Rachid Taoussi, former coach of the Atlas Lions, Raja Casablanca and the FAR Rabat, judges as well as“we must not judge before we have seen”, but that “ questions arise, particularly regarding the choice of teams concerned and the schedule, which is already very busy”. He also wonders whether the clubs which will play in the African League will also be able to take part in the two other competitions organized by CAF. Then to conclude that“it would have been better to better expose and better promote the Champions League and the CAF Cup.”
The Champions League brings 3.8 million euros to its winner and half of this sum to the finalist. The CAF Cup is less endowed, with 1.9 million euros for the winner and 945,000 euros for the finalist. These allocations have been increased, but they only partially cover the expenses incurred by the clubs, due to high travel costs.
“I have the impression that we have created an elitist competition, where the richest, that is to say the clubs from North Africa and South Africa, will earn more money when those who do not participate risk becoming impoverished, fears the Senegalese Saer Seck. President of the Diambars club and former president of his country’s professional football league, he also fears that with “the principle of a closed league, as in question, we will almost always see the same posters from one year to the next, which could become boring”.
“I am surprised that this year, we do not find any Algerian club invited, while our clubs have won numerous continental competitions, regrets for his part Rabah Madjer, the former striker and coach of the Algerian Fennecs. But more generally, the idea seems interesting, both sportingly and economically. We will have to wait for several editions to get a more precise idea. »
Will this new competition weaken those already existing on the continent? Will it harm the interest in the national championships? In the coming months, CAF should provide answers to the many questions still pending on the contours of the African Football League.
المواضيع: Football, Africa