Africa’s premier club football competition, the CAF Champions League, officially gets underway on Friday, August 18th, with the first preliminary round of fixtures taking place across the continent.
The first preliminary round marks the exciting start to the most sought-after African club football prize, with the second round being the last hurdle before the remaining 16 clubs are drawn into the group stages.
To kick start the competition, Algeria’s CS Constantine play host to Etoile Sportive du Sahel of Tunisia, while KMKM SC welcomes Saint George SC of Ethiopia in the two Friday afternoon fixtures.
Champions of the 1995 edition and 2013 silver-medalists, Orlando Pirates head to Comoros to face Djabal FC in one of the headline fixtures of the weekend, along with another exciting clash between Namibia’s African Stars who will be taking on Power Dynamos of Zambia on Saturday.
On Sunday, Ahli Benghazi take on two-time African champions, Enyimba FC who will be looking at regaining their dominance on the continent. Coton Sport of Benin will take on Cote d’Ivoire’s Asec Mimosas, who had their taste of continental success when they lifted the 1998 edition of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.
As in previous seasons, the CAF Champions League is set to continue on its exciting growth trajectory, as global interest in African football continues to be on the rise as evidently seen in the growing viewership and stadium attendance figures of CAF inter-club competitions.
