The African Super League a silly idea or a revolution in football on the black continent?

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is preparing to announce plans for the Continental Super League with promises of $100 million in prize money to clubs across the continent.

On Wednesday, CAF President Patrice Motsepe will announce the details of the project, which has been in the pipeline since FIFA President Gianni Infantino first proposed it two years ago.

When Infantino presented the idea at the CAF symposium in Morocco in February 2020, he said, "We have to take the 20 best African clubs and put them in an African league. Such a league can generate at least $200 million in revenue, making it among the top ten in the world." ".

Motsebe promised sponsorship contracts and revenue unheard of in African football, and claimed in several previous press conferences that the Super League would allow clubs to pay better salaries to talent like those in Europe, thus allowing African teams to keep their best players.

“We want the Premier League to be a global competition and to compete with the best in the world in terms of football quality, resources, infrastructure, stadiums, referees and ticketing,” said the 60-year-old businessman. “The Premier League will be organized in partnership with FIFA, who has a wealth of experience in terms of running the best competition. In the world, the World Cup.

Poor competitions

Team owners in Africa have for decades complained about the costs of competing in the most prominent continental club competition, the African Champions League, for which the crown gets $2.5 million.

"There are some African clubs that have the support of millions of fans, but their owners have to pay money in order to compete in African competitions," FIFA president Infantino said.

Motsebe admitted that the money for crowning the African Champions League in 2016 was not enough to cover the expenses of his club, Mamelodi Sundowns, while Hamdi Al-Mudedeb, president of Tunisia's Esperance, who won the African Champions League four times, said, "If we think about what we spend on the Champions League, compared to what we earn, it will be better. Not playing in it. Africa is a huge continent and sometimes we have to charter flights at a cost of over $100,000 each."

CAF grants financial prizes to the participating teams starting from the group stage, meaning that 42 teams out of 58 participating teams in the 2023 edition will incur travel, accommodation and other costs without receiving any compensation from the Confederation of African Football.

African Super League details

The Super League, which officials told Reuters was likely to be called the African Football League to remove it from last year's failed European Super League, will feature 24 teams and start in August next year.

It is expected that 8 North African clubs, 8 West and Central and 8 South African clubs will participate, and the clubs will be selected according to their results in the two annual CAF tournaments, the African Champions League and the Confederation Cup.

And according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse, the competition may be in the form of 3 regional groups, before 3 playoffs to reach the final.

Criticism of the Super League

The new league faced criticism even before its official launch was announced, and the South African Players Association said in a statement, “Professional football in South Africa and the African continent could be in danger if the decision to start the Super League is implemented, and there may be no return from the devastating effects that The Super League could replace her.

Cape Town City owner John Cometis described the project as a "very ridiculous idea" and warned that "the Premier League is going to kill African football".