CAF Launches African Super League

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has officially launched African Super League, a continental variant of the much contested European Super League, to change the perspective and tap the potential of the game on the continent.

President of CAF, Mr Patrice Motsepe, announced the development at the 44th CAF Ordinary General Assembly held in Tanzania on Wednesday.

The project has been in the works since it was recommended by Mr Gianni Infantino, FIFA president, in 2020.

CAF announced that the African Super League will be operated on a budget of $200 million and will kick off in August 2023.

Half of the budget will be split between the 24 participating clubs, with each team guaranteed a minimum of $2.5 million and the winner gets $11.6 million.

The money is over five times the $2.5 million awarded to the winners of the CAF Champions League.

Mr Motsepe said, “We are excited about the CAF Africa Super League and are confident that it will change the face and competitiveness of CAF and African football.

“The CAF Executive Committee (EXCO) took a decision to launch the CAF Africa Super League in August 2022. This League will officially kick off in August 2023.

“We announced on 3 July 2022 that the total prize money of the CAF Africa Super League will be $100 million, with the winner receiving $11.5 million.”

He also explained that, “We intend paying each Member Association $1 million per annum from the CAF Africa Super League funds.

“We also intend allocating $50 million to CAF from these funds for Youth and Women’s football development and for all its other competitions to ensure that they are globally competitive.”

CAF as part of its new development announced some changes including the increment of the total prize money for the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League from $12.5 million to $17.6 million, and the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup from $6.375 million to $9.9 million.

Mr Motsepe also announced the increase in the total prize money for the TotalEnergies AFCON Cameroon 2021 from $24.8 million to $26.650 million.

The total prize money for the TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) Morocco 2022 was increased from $975,000 to $2.4 million, which is an increase of 150 per cent.

The TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Champions League, which did not have any prize money, saw the value of $1.550 million introduced.

CAF has also expressed its commitment to increasing its investment in TV and content to improve and enhance the quality of watching CAF matches on TV and streaming platforms.