The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has unveiled the roadmap for the 2020/2021 inter-club competitions.

Registration on the competitions management system of CAF opened on Tuesday (September 1, 2020) while deadline for countries to submit the engagement request is 20th October 2020. Member Associations will submit their top teams in their leagues according to the criterion set either through having completed their seasons or ended them prematurely.

CAF has also announced that qualifiers for the under-17 and 20 Africa Cup of Nations will be held alongside the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup.

The first and second leg preliminaries for both competitions will commence in November 2020 and will be preceded by the registration period that will run from 1st – 8th November, 2020, with the finals to take place in July 2021.

In a letter addressed to all national associations, CAF Acting General Secretary Abdelmounaim Bah stated that all clubs participating in the continental competitions will be required to undergo the club licensing process with their respective federations.

“CAF would like to reemphasize that only licensed clubs which receive the license from their respective federation will be allowed to participate in the upcoming season of CAF interclubs’ competitions,” read Bah’s letter in part.

“According to the CAF Club Licensing regulations article 6: Only clubs which fulfil the criteria set out in the accredited national club licensing regulations by the relevant deadline and that have qualified on the basis of their sporting results may be granted a license by the member association.”

“We would like to draw your attention that due to the tight calendar during the next inter-clubs season, the qualifiers and final tournaments of the U-17 and U-20 Africa Cups of Nations will be organized in parallel with the Champions League and Confederation Cup matches.

Teams participating shall not request postponements of matches because of this situation,” Bah said.

Among the new rules which are set to be enjoyed by the clubs in both competitions is the five substitution rule in conformity of the CAF Executive Committee’s decision.

MA’s ranking for Interclubs competitions

The CAF Member Associations (MA) ranking is based on the performance of the MA’s representatives in the Total CAF Champions League and Total CAF Confederation Cup over a five-year period. The top 12 MA’s are eligible to engage two teams each in the two club competitions for the concerned season. The ranking is as follows;

1.     Morocco – 180 points

2.     Egypt – 147 points

3.     Tunisia – 140 points

4.     DR Congo – 83 points

5.     Algeria – 81 points

6.   South Africa – 68.5 points

7.   Zambia – 43 points

8.   Nigeria – 39 points

9.   Guinea – 38 points

10. Angola – 36 points

11. Sudan – 29.5 points

12. Libya – 16.5 points