By Victor Kanayo
Ahead of the 2025/26 football season, Confederation of African Football (CAF) has revealed the calendar for the Champions League and Confederation Cup.
According to the continental football body, registration for the Preliminary Round of CAF Inter Club Competitions will kick off from August 1 to 31, 2025.
CAF, in a statement, said each club is expected to register a maximum of 40 players and use 11 of them in a match, with 9 players and 9 officials on the bench, while a maximum of 5 players are permitted to come on as substitutes under the new directives.
Hostilities Kick-off
The organisers further said the Interclub season will officially start in September due to the organisation of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) during the month of August.
As a result, the deadline for engagement has been extended to August 31, instead of the regulatory engagement deadline of June 30, 2025.
Another Registration Window
Part of the schedule disclosed that the second registration window will open from September 1 to 30, 2025, while the group stage and knockout phase registration is fixed for October 1 to 30, 2025.
“The first leg of the 1st Preliminary matches will be played on the weekend of 19-21 September 2025, and 26-28 September 2025.
“The final of the 2025/26 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup is scheduled between 8 and 24 May 2026,” it said.
Preliminary Round Shift, Defending Champions
CAF also stated that the additional second preliminary round of the CAF Confederation Cup was still cancelled.
“Consequently, teams eliminated in the second preliminary round of the CAF Champions League will no longer transition into the Confederation Cup.
“Teams that advance from the second preliminary round of the Confederation Cup will proceed directly to the group stage,” it said.
While Pyramids FC of Egypt beat all odds to win the CAF Champions League, Morocco’s RS Berkane are defending champions of the Confederation Cup last season.
