The start of the Champions League and Confederation Cup competitions will be postponed, a source in the African Football Confederation (CAF) Competitions Committee told AFP on Tuesday, due to the qualifiers for the Nations Cup for local players.
The group stage was scheduled to start on Friday, October 25, before being postponed to Tuesday, November 26.
The source said, “The CAF member associations that have clubs participating in the group stage have been contacted, and an official announcement will be made on the CAF official website at a later time.”
The source explained, “The decision was necessary after the CAF Executive Committee approved the agenda for the African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers, which will start on October 25, the same date set for the start of the two club competitions groups.”
The draw for the two competitions will be held in Cairo on October 7.
The major clubs qualified for the Champions League, after the two preliminary rounds ended with the participation of 58 clubs. The 16 clubs will be distributed into four groups.
Al-Ahly of Egypt, the title holder and record holder for the number of titles (12), and the runner-up of the champion, Esperance of Tunisia, qualified.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Maniema achieved a historic achievement in the first season in which it participated, after eliminating the Angolan Petro Atletico.
Previous title holders also qualified, such as TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Raja of Morocco, Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa, Mouloudia of Algeria and Orlando Pirates of South Africa, who qualified for the group stage after a five-year absence.
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