The Confederation of African Football have decided on the 12 countries who will be allowed to have an extra team in next year’s African Champions League.
The continent’s premier club competition is being increased to 64 teams from next year.
The countries have been chosen using a formula based on performances in continental club competitions over the last five years.
The beneficiaries are: Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.
The 12 countries will also be allowed to have two representatives in the inaugural Confederation Cup.
The Confederation Cup is to be launched next year to replace the African Cup Winners’ Cup and the Caf Cup.
The winner and the runner-up in their respective leagues will go to the 2004 Champions League while the national Cup winner and the third-place finisher in the league qualify for the Confederation Cup.
In effect, this then gives each of these 12 nations four representatives in continental club competition from next year, one more than normal.
Changes to African cub competitions were decided last December by Caf in an effort to increase the commercial viability and marketability of their annual tournaments.
Mark Gleeson
