African Football Symposium, a first of its kind in the continental, concluded Wednesday in Rabat, Morocco.
The gathering of the movers and shakers of the African football including former players, federation presidents, journalists and other players churned out many recommendations from the different working groups that were tasked with tackling specific topics.
Most of their proposals have since been adopted by the Confederation of African Football supreme governing body, the Executive Committee, which started its sittings Thursday.
One such and the most talked about proposal, which was ratified, was expansion of the African Cup of Nations from 16 to 24 teams starting the 2019 edition in Cameroon. The premium continental tournament will also move from January to June/July every two years.
Another crucial recommendation, that received universal approval by the CAF Committee, was moving the CAF club championships to the August/May window, from the current January/December cycle.
This move will to a large extent be beneficial to leagues currently following the CAF’s January/December cycle like the Kenyan Premier League as their clubs will enter the championships in the middle of the season when they are at or near optimum.
It will nonetheless, affect negatively majority African leagues following the Europe’s August/May calendar, as their clubs will now start their campaigns straight from recess.
KPL clubs like Gor Mahia and lately Tusker, Bandari and Ulinzi have justified their dismal performance in the continent citing lack of proper preparations as they enter the competitions straight from season break without proper preseason, as they spend the better part of December and January in the transfer market.
KPL and the Football Kenya Federation have in the past toyed with the idea of aligning the Kenya’s topflight with the European calendar to partly solve the problem.
A quick look at the list of the current CAF Champions League and CAF Confederations Cup quarterfinalists reveals that majority of the clubs, up-to 90%, play their domestic leagues from August/May, and hence have enjoyed an upper hand.
However, the move has a serious down side. Clubs like the reigning CAF Champions League holders Mamelodi Sundowns who reach later stages of the tournaments, have lamented fatigue in their squads since they find themselves playing competitively throughout the year without finding time for preseason.
On the commercial side, the change may prove defeatist for CAF as the tournaments, which have struggled for viewership, will now have to compete for eyeballs with the much established and highly promoted UEFA championships.
