CAF scrap Confederation Cup play-offs

Soccer Football - African Champions League Group Stage Draw - Nile Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Cairo, Egypt - December 28, 2018 The CAF Confederation Cup and the CAF Champions League trophies on display before the draw REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Play-offs in
the CAF Confederation Cup - the African equivalent of the Europa League - will
be ditched from the 2023-2024 season, it was confirmed on Saturday.
The decision
to scrap the third and final round of qualifying for the group phase was made
at a CAF executive committee meeting in Rabat.
Play-offs
pitted winners of Confederation Cup last-32 ties against losers of CAF
Champions League last-32 ties, and have been part of the competition since its
2004 debut.
Winners of
Confederation Cup last-32 ties will now go directly into the group phase.
A CAF
statement gave no reasons for the decision, but the cost of competing in the
Confederation Cup was likely to have been a factor.
Clubs
receive prize money only from the group phase, meaning they must fund all costs
for playing in the preliminary round, round of 32 and play-offs.
Cape Town
City FC chairman John Comitis has said that it cost his club three million rand
($160,000/€145,000) in expenses to compete for three rounds in Africa last
season.
Travelling
is a challenge for clubs in Africa with limited flight options and high costs,
and teams from southern nations often fly to northern countries via Doha or
Dubai to cut costs.
Title-holders
USM Alger of Algeria and former winners FUS Rabat of Morocco and Zamalek of
Egypt are among the clubs who have entered the 2023-2024 Confederation Cup.
The
preliminary round is scheduled for August, the round of 32 for
September/October and the first group matches will be played on December 3.
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