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Tag: CAF

  • CAF releases 2021/22 season Inter-club information and dates

    CAF releases 2021/22 season Inter-club information and dates

    The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has released the 2021/2022 inter-club season schedule.

    This includes the information relating to the list of countries which will be allowed to enter two clubs in the 2021/2022 season.

    The 2021/22 season will kick off on Sept 10 with the first round of the Preliminaries, while the group stages will start in February.

    The 12 highest-ranked national associations, according to the ranking of CAF, will be allowed to engage two clubs in the CAF Champions League 2021/2022 and the CAF Confederation Cup 2021/2022.

    The countries are: (according to their ranking) Algeria, Angola, RD Congo, Egypt, Guinea, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia.

    Also, CAF has extended the five substitutions per game rule for the 2021/2022 Inter-clubs season.

    Accordingly, each club will be allowed to register 40 players instead of the regulatory 30.

    Nine substitutes will be allowed on the bench instead of the regular seven.

    The registration of players on the CAF CMS has been extended to Aug. 15.

    CAF Inter-club Schedule: 2021/2022

    – First Preliminary Round (First Leg/Second Leg) Sept. 10 to 12 /Sept. 17 to 19

    – Second Preliminary Round (First Leg/Second Leg) Oct. 15 to 17/Oct. 22 to 24

    CC Additional
    – Second Preliminary Round (First Leg/Second Leg) Nov. 26 to 28, Dec. 3 to 5
    – Group stage MD1: Feb. 11 to 13 2022
    – Group stage MD2: Feb. 18 to 20 2022
    – Group stage MD3: Feb. 25 to 27 2022
    – Group stage MD4: March 11 to 13 2022
    – Group stage MD5: March 18 to 20 2022
    – Group stage MD6: April 1 to 3 2022
    – Quarter Finals (First Leg/Second Leg) April 15 to 17 2022/April 22 to 24 2022
    – Semi-Finals (First Leg/Second Leg) May 6 to 8 2022/May 13 to 15 2022
    – Finals: To be concluded from May 22 to 29 2022

  • CAF announces new date, venue for Sierra Leone vs Benin fixture

    CAF announces new date, venue for Sierra Leone vs Benin fixture

    The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying fixture between Sierra Leone and Benin will be played on Monday in Conakry, Guinea.
    The fixture is part of Match Day 6 fixtures of the AFCON qualifiers initially scheduled for March 2021.

    A disagreement over the players found to have tested positive for COVID-19 prevented the match from going on.

  • CAF postpones AFCON 2021 draw

    CAF postpones AFCON 2021 draw

    The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has postponed the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) draw.

    CAF announced the postponement in a statement released on their official website on Sunday.

    The draw was scheduled for June 25 in Yaounde, Cameroon hosts of the 2021 AFCON.

    But on Sunday, CAF said the postponement was due to “logistical reasons related to the Covid-19 pandemic” and a new date would be announced in due course.

    “At the request of CAF, the Cameroon Local Organizing Committee (LOC) has agreed to postpone the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Cameroon 2021 final draw for logistical reasons related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

    “The draw was initially scheduled for 25 June 2021 and a new date will be announced in due course.

    “CAF continues to work together with its partners, the Cameroon government and the LOC with the objective of making theTotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Cameroon 2021 a successful event and a great celebration of African football.”

    The 2021 AFCON has already been put back a year because of the pandemic.

    The Super Eagles will be one of the 24 countries that will participate at next year’s AFCON.

  • Title-holders Al Ahly advance to CAF Champions League semi-finals

    Title-holders Al Ahly advance to CAF Champions League semi-finals

    Defending champions Al Ahly qualified for the 2020/2021 CAF Champions League semi-finals for the fourth time in five years with a 3-1 aggregate win over Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday.

    This was after Al Ahly played to a 1-1 draw with the South Africans in the second leg in Pretoria.

    Their healthy 2-0 win in the first leg in Cairo last weekend has now proved to be decisive.

    The result meant coach Pitso Mosimane eliminated his former employers in his first competitive return to South Africa.

    Al Ahly were on the front foot from the word go and they were ahead after just 11 minutes.

    That was when Yasser Ibrahim finished off after picking the ball from a deflected corner-kick.

    Mamelodi Sundowns, now needing four goals to overturn the tie were stunned into action and they laboured to get back on level terms, doing so after half an hour.

    Mosa Lebusa finished off from a corner-kick, beating Mohamed Elshenawy in Ahly’s goal.

    Mamelodi Sundowns pushed Al Ahly into their own half of the pitch as they looked to narrow the gap.

    In the second half, they kept the pressure high but could not get themselves a second goal that would have definitely injected the fight in them

  • CAF announces new leaders for its standing committees

    CAF announces new leaders for its standing committees

    The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced a new team that will lead the work of its standing committees.

    This follows a proposal by CAF President, Dr Patrice Motsepe, to then CAF Emergency Committee, who, in turn, forwarded the names to the Executive Committee for ratifications.

    At the recent Executive Committee meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, the following decisions were confirmed:

    Finance Committee:

    Mr. Fouzi Lekjaa continues his mission at the head of the Finance Committee. Lekjaa, President of FRMF (Moroccan Football Federation) and FIFA Council member, will be assisted by Mr. Andrew Kamanga, President of FAZ (Football Association of Zambia), as the vice president.

    Organising Committee of the Total Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON):

    CAF President, Dr Patrice Motsepe, will lead the committee with the assistance of two vice-presidents: Mr. Augustin Emmanuel Senghor, President of the Senegalese Football Federation, and Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick, President of the Nigerian Football Federation.

    Organising Committee of the Total African Nations Championship (CHAN):

    Building on the success of the recent Total CHAN 2020, organized last January-February in Cameroon, the Acting FECAFOOT President, Seidou Mbombo Njoya, was named head of this committee. FUFA (Uganda) President, Mr. Moses Magogo, will assist him as vice-president.

    Organising-Committee-of-the-Interclub-Competitions-and-Club-Licensing

    Interclub Competitions and the Club License management system will be chaired by Mr. Ahmed Yahya, second CAF vice-President and Mauritania Football President. Mr. Maclean Letshwiti (Bostwana Football Association President), and Mr. Djibrilla Hamidou Hima (Niger Football federation President) have been appointed vice-presidents.

    This committee manages the CAF Total Champions League, the CAF Total Confederation Cup, the Total Super Cup as well as the new Women’s Champions League in collaboration with the Organizing Committee for Women’s Football.

    Organising Committee for Youth Competitions:

    The Youth Football will be overseen by the third CAF Vice-President and President of Djibouti Federation, Mr. Suleiman Waberi. He will be supported by vice-presidents Mr. Pierre Alain Mouguengui (Gabon) and Mr. Moustapha Ishola Raji (Liberia).

    Women Football Organising Committee:

    In women’s football, Isha Johansen (Sierra Leone) will handover the presidency to Kanizat Ibrahim (Comoros). However, the SLFA president who is also a member of the FIFA Council, continues her mission as vice-president of the committee.

    Development Committee for Futsal and Beach Soccer:

    Mr. Sita Sangare (former FBF President – Burkina Faso) has been appointed president of the Development Committee for Futsal and Beach Soccer. His Vice-President is Mr. Abdiqani Said Arab (Somalia)

    Committee for Legal Affairs and National Associations:

    Mr. Augustin Emmanuel Senghor, a lawyer and also first CAF Vice-president, takes charge of the committee.

    Mr. Elvis Chetty from Seychelles will be vice president.

    CAF Medical Committee

    A new president of the CAF medical committee has been appointed: He is Mr. Wadie Jary, President of the Tunisian Football Federation. The position of vice-president remains temporarily vacant.

    According to the CAF media channel, President Motsepe is still receiving additional proposal regarding Refereeing Committee and Technical and Development Committee.

  • Women AFCON qualifiers: CAF unveils pairings

    Women AFCON qualifiers: CAF unveils pairings

    The headquarters of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in Cairo, Egypt, on Monday hosted the draw for the qualification series that saw a record of 45 member associations taking part.

    According to the CAF media channel, Morocco, the host country of the final tournament will qualify automatically as hosts, leaving 44 teams to take part in the qualifiers.

    It will be the first edition organized under the format of 12 teams.

    CAF Senior Manager for Women Football and Futsal, Heba Sarwat, conducted the draw, assisted by Egyptian footballer, Nadine Ghazy.

    Following are the draw results:

    First round

    M1 – Uganda v Ethiopia

    M2 – Kenya v South Sudan

    M3 – Eritrea v Burundi

    M4 – Djibouti v Rwanda

    M5 – Malawi v Zambia

    M6 – Tanzania v Namibia

    M7 – Zimbabwe v Eswatini

    M8 – Angola v Botswana

    M9 – Mozambique v South Africa

    M10 Algeria v Sudan

    M11 Egypt v Tunisia

    M12 – Equatorial Guinea v DR Congo

    M13 – Sao Tome and Principe v Togo

    M14 – Congo v Gabon

    M15 – Central African Republic v Cameroon

    M16 – Sierra Leone v Gambia

    M17 – Liberia v Senegal

    M18 – Mali v Guinea

    M19 – Guinea Bissau v Mauritania

    M20 – Burkina Faso v Benin

    M21 – Nigeria v Ghana

    M22 – Niger v Cote d’Ivoire

    Second Round

    Winner M1 v Winner M2

    Winner M3 v Winner M4

    Winner M5 v Winner M6

    Winner M7 v Winner M8

    Winner M9 v Winner M10

    Winner M11 v Winner M12

    Winner M13 v Winner M14

    Winner M15 v Winner M16

    Winner M17 v Winner M18

    Winner M19 v Winner M20

    Winner M21 v Winner M22

    Aggregate winners qualify to join hosts Morocco in the final tournament.

    This will be the 12th edition of the Africa Women Cup of Nations (14th edition if tournaments without hosts are included).

    The biennial international football championship is organised by CAF for the women’s national teams of Africa.

    The tournament will be held on dates within the FIFA Women’s International Match Calendar in either July–August or October–November 2022.

    The tournament also doubles as the African qualifiers for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The top four teams in Morocco will qualify for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, and two more teams will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

    Nigeria are the three-time defending champions, having won the tournament in 2014, 2016 and 2018.

    The 2020 edition, which would have been the first to feature 12 teams, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • 2020/21 CAF Confed. Cup: Six teams reach knockout stage

    2020/21 CAF Confed. Cup: Six teams reach knockout stage

    Six teams have qualified for the knockout stage of the 2020/21 CAF Confederation Cup, after Day 5 matches were played on Wednesday across Africa.

    With the 6th-round matches yet to be played, here is the list of qualifiers.

    From Group B – JS Kabylie and Cotton Sport – both have 9 points but JS Kabylie are in first spot.

    From Group C – Jaaraf (Senegal) – 10 points, and CS Sfaxien (Tunisia) – 9 points.

    From Group D – Raja Casablanca (Morocco) – 15 points – and Pyramids (Egypt) – 9 points.

    Qualifiers from Group A will emerge after Thursday’s match between Al Ahly Benghazi of Libya and Enyimba of Nigeria.

    Day 6 matches will be played on 28 April.

    Day 5 results are as follows –

    Group A
    Orlando Pirates (South Africa) 0-0 ES Setif (Algeria)
    Ahly Benghazi (Libya) vs Enyimba (Nigeria) – to be played on Thursday.

    Group B
    Coton Sport (Cameroon) 1-2 JS Kabylie (Algeria)
    Napsa Stars (Zambia) 1-0 RS Berkane (Morocco)

    Group C
    Jaaraf (Senegal) 1-0 Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia)
    Salitas (Burkina Faso) 0-2 CS Sfaxien (Tunisia)

    Group D
    Nkana FC (Zambia) 0-1 Pyramids (Egypt)
    Namungo (Tanzania) 0-3 Raja Casablanca (Morocco).

  • Match Day 5 fixtures in CAF Confederation Cup

    Match Day 5 fixtures in CAF Confederation Cup

    Following are the Match Day 5 fixtures in the 2020/2021 CAF Confederation Cup competition’s group phase, to be played on Wednesday and Thursday:

    Group A

    Wednesday —- Johannesburg —- Orlando Pirates (South Africa) vs ES Setif (Algeria)
    Thursday —- Benina —- Ahly Benghazi (Libya) vs Enyimba International (Nigeria)

    Group B

    Wednesday —– Lusaka —- NAPSA Stars (Zambia) vs RS Berkane (Morocco)
    Wednesday —– Garoua —- Coton Sport (Cameroon) vs JS Kabylie (Algeria)

    Group C

    Wednesday —– Thies —– ASC Jaraaf (Senegal) vs Etiole du Sahel (Tunisia)
    Wednesday —- Porto Novo —- Salitas (Burkina Faso) vs CS Sfaxien (Tunisia)

    Group D

    Wednesday —– Dar es Salaam —- Namungo (Tanzania) vs Raja (Morocco)
    Wednesday —– Ndola —- Nkana (Zambia) vs Pyramids (Egypt)

  • Edo Queens optimistic of qualification for CAF women’s championship

    Edo Queens optimistic of qualification for CAF women’s championship

    Edo Queens Women Football Club’s Coordinator, Sabina Chikere, says the team are optimistic of doing well at the Super 6 tournament in Ijebu-Ode.

    Chikere told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Benin they were eager to qualify from the competition so as to play in the inaugural CAF Women’s Champions League.

    NAN reports that Edo Queens came fourth in the 2020/2021 Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) Premiership with 23 points from 13 matches.

    “Even though fourth position is not good enough, but I will nonetheless commend the players for finishing in a position that qualified them to be among the top six clubs who can participate in the Super Six championship,” Chikere said.

    She said it was good to know that the Ijebu-Ode tournament would ultimately decide the winners of the 2020/2021 NWFL Premiership.

    “This is where the two teams will be selected to represent Nigeria in the proposed CAF-organised championship for women, slated for May.

    “This Super 6 event is significant and historic to Edo Queens FC because the last time a female football team from Edo participated in a competition of this magnitude was in 2002/2003.

    “Then, the team was called Inneh Queens, managed and bankrolled by an individual, the late Chief Sunny Eghaghe Inneh of blessed memory.

    “For the present, Edo Queens players, coaches and management have every reason to be thankful to our govvernor, Godwin Obaseki, and his deputy, Philip Shaibu, for bringing Edo Queens FC to limelight.

    “They have also made the club the cynosure of all eyes in the history of Nigerian female football,” the team manager said.

    However, the team’s captain, Glory Ogbonna, while speaking, said the team would reciprocate the government’s gesture by winning the Super Six tournament.

    “We thank God for making us to be among the six top teams that will take part in this championship holding in Ijebu-Ode.

    “It is a good development for us as players, as it will give us ample opportunity to showcase our collective talents as a team.

    “Again, we are very determined and focused, and we want to be among the two teams that will carry Nigeria’s flag at the CAF-organised Championship for African Women Footballers.

    “I know that Edo Queens are a team to beat, but we are going to give our opponents a run for their money.

    “It is going to be power for power, talent for talent, integrity for integrity, and intelligence for intelligence.

    “This competition is not a tea party, because for a club to represent Nigeria in a high profile tournament like CAF championship means that you have to fight very hard to get the ticket.

    “So, when you are preparing for battle against a champion, you must be fully prepared for it.

    “For us in Edo Queens, we are ready, the spirit in camp is high, and we are training seriously for the games.

    “All we are praying for is good health. We are ready to do our state and Nigeria proud,” she said.

  • CAF Confed Cup: Enyimba Beat Setif To Record Second Win

    CAF Confed Cup: Enyimba Beat Setif To Record Second Win

    Enyimba’s captain, Austin Oladapo, and striker, Tosin Omoyele, scored a goal each to give the Nigerian side a 2-1 victory over Algeria’s Entente Setif on matchday 3 of the CAF Confederation Cup in Aba, a town in Abia State.

    Monsef Bakrar shot the visitors into the lead in the 13th minute after poor communication between Enyimba’s defenders.

    Three minutes later, the hosts were awarded a penalty after Omoyele was brought down in the area.

    Oladapo stepped up to it but goalkeeper Sofiane Khedairia produced a fine safe to stop him and kept Setif’s lead.

    Just before the break, Oladapo made amends for his miss after Omoyele gave a short pass to Dayo Ojo who laid it a sweet one for the incoming captain (Oladapo) who unleashed a shot with his left foot to beat goalkeeper Khedairia.

    That goal calmed the nerves of coach Fatai Osho and his technical crew as they went into the break with a levelled score-line.When action resumed in the second half, Enyimba took control of the game with Anayo Iwuala producing productive runs that cracked the walls of Setif’s defence.

    In the 60th minute, it was the same Iwuala who dazzled, confused the visitors’ defenders and placed a fine pass to Omoyele to score the second goal for the People’s Elephant.

    With the victory, Enyimba have regained leadership of the Group A table with six points, pending the outcome of the match between Ahli Benghazi and Orlando Pirates scheduled to hold later on Sunday night.

    The champions of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) will play Setif again in a matchday 4 fixture on Sunday next week.