By Victor Kanayo
Continental football body, Confederation of African Football (CAF) has officially launched the Africa Super League (ASL).
The launching was done on Wednesday, August 10 during CAF’s Ordinary General Assembly in Tanzania, and the competition is expected to generate about $200m dollars yearly.
While half of the amount (100 million dollars) shall be shared between participating clubs, the other half shall be invested in football development across Africa, with each of CAF’s 54 member associations expected to receive at least one million dollars yearly as contribution to youth and football development.
Consequent upon the Super League, CAF shall also be able to increase the prize money of the Men’s and Women’s CAF Champions League.
Launching the ASL, CAF President, Patrice Mostepe 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 USD 100 million, with the winner receiving USD 11.5 million.
“We intend paying each Member Association USD 1 million per annum from the CAF Africa Super League funds. We also intend allocating USD 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.
“Participating clubs must have a women’s team and an academy,”
The competition is set to begin in August 2023 with 24 clubs from 16 countries, with 197 matches to be played.
Additionally, in order to remain in, the participating clubs would need to continue to meet strict requirements for the growth of women’s and youth football.
The top African clubs in recent years will be selected as participants, and groups will be played according to region (North, Central/West, South/East).
