AFRICA FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Enyimba to get opponents on Saturday at official draw for maiden African Football League
Eliminated from the CAF Champions League, Nigeria’s Enyimba will begin a new adventure in the inaugural African Football League which is for the continent’s highest ranked football clubs .
In what was initially tagged ‘Super’ competition, and designed to showcase the best of African club football, the draw will be held this Saturday while competition itself kicks off in October.
According to CAF, the competition will provide football fans in Africa and around the world, the opportunity to see and enjoy the very best of the beautiful game on the African Continent.
The league is a partnership between CAF and FIFA. The Inaugural edition of will feature eight of Africa’s most famous and successful teams from the three African Regional Blocks which are: the North Region, the Central-West Region and the South-East Region.
Egyptian giants Al Ahly Football Club, Tunisia’s Espérance Sportive de Tunis and Wydad Athletic Club from Morocco are the football clubs from the North Region.
The clubs from the Central-West Region are: Nigeria’s Enyimba Football Club and the DRC’s Tout Puissant Mazembe.
Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club from South Africa, Angola’s Atlético Petróleos de Luanda and Tanzania’s Simba Sports Club are the football clubs from the South-East Region.
The draw for the Inaugural AFL competition will be held in Cairo, Egypt, on 2 September 2023, at 19H00, Cairo Time and will be streamed live on the AFL website and televised by CAF’s broadcast partners.
The fixtures of the Inaugural AFL competition are structured on a home and away basis. The competition starts with knock-out quarter finals and will be followed by the semi-finals and the final; all of which are played over two legs.
This historic Inaugural edition of the AFL will take place over four weeks, kicking off with the Opening Ceremony and the first match on 20 October 2023 in Dar es Salam, Tanzania.
The semi-finals will take place between 29 October and 1 November.
The final matches which will determine the winner of the Inaugural AFL competition will take place on 5 and 11 November 2023.
The Inaugural AFL is a precursor to the fully-fledged AFL competition which will feature the 24 highest ranked football clubs on the African Continent and will commence during the 2024/2025 football season.
Fans of football around the world can keep up to date with the latest news and information on the most exciting club football competition in Africa via the AFL website, as well as social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and X (Twitter).
The AFL website will also offer live Over-The-Top (“OTT”) access to the draw and all AFL matches as well as supporting feature content to keep fans engaged throughout the entire competition from 3 September 2023 onwards.
President of Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau was a very happy man on Monday night, as Nigeria swept important honours at this year’s CAF Football Awards held in Marrakech, Morocco.
The NFF supremo was personally present at the Hotel Movenpick and collected the first honour that came Nigeria’s way – Women’s National Team of the Year.
He dedicated the award to all women football teams on the African continent.
Chiamaka Nnadozie, who shone brightly at the FIFA World Cup finals in Down Under this year summer as the Super Falcons reached the Round of 16, was the undoubted winner of the honour of Goalkeeper of the Year (Women)
The Paris FC of France safe hands made a moving speech: “To all the young girls growing up in Africa, dreaming of becoming a footballer one day, believe me dreams do come true. My dad didn’t want me to play football but I’m sure he’s gonna see this and be happy. So, keep dreaming, keep working and I believe that one day you’ll get to this stage.”
After Asisat Oshoala won a record-extending sixth award as Player of the Year (Women) the auditorium went silent as it was time to present the men’s version. Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen, Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah were the final three.
Osimhen was crowned, becoming the first Nigeria player in 24 years to take the gong. The last person was Nwankwo Kanu, back in 1999. Kanu also won in 1996, after Rashidi Yekini in 1993 and Emmanuel Amuneke in 1994. Victor Ikpeba took the crown in 1997.
Gusau said: “I am very excited tonight. This has been hugely rewarding for our football and for our country as a whole. I congratulate Osimhen, Oshoala and Nnadozie, and I congratulate the Super Falcons as a team for bringing us this honour.
“My charge would be that they all keep doing what they know how to do best, keep improving and keep winning. The sky will be the beginning for them.”
Osimhen became the first player in the history of the African Football Awards to have been crowned Player of the Year (Men) after having pocketed the Young Player of the Year (Men) in an earlier year. Only last Monday, the 24-year-old was crowned the 2022/2023 Player of the Year in Italy’s Serie A, after having won the Young Player of the Year in the same league in the 2021/2022 season.
President of Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau was a very happy man on Monday night, as Nigeria swept important honours at this year’s CAF Football Awards .
The NFF supremo was personally present at the Hotel Movenpick and collected the first honour that came Nigeria’s way – Women’s National Team of the Year<span.
He dedicated the award to all women football teams on the African continent.
Chiamaka Nnadozie, who shone brightly at the FIFA World Cup finals in Down Under this year summer as the Super Falcons reached the Round of 16, was the undoubted winner of the honour of Goalkeeper of the Year (Women).The Paris FC of France safe hands made a moving speech: “To all the young girls growing up in Africa, dreaming of becoming a footballer one day, believe me dreams do come true. My dad didn’t want me to play football but I’m sure he’s gonna see this and be happy. So, keep dreaming, keep working and I believe that one day you’ll get to this stage.”
After Asisat Oshoala won a record-extending sixth award as Player of the Year (Women)<span;>, the auditorium went silent as it was time to present the men’s version. Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen, Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah were the final three.
Osimhen was crowned, becoming the first Nigeria player in 24 years to take the gong. The last person was Nwankwo Kanu, back in 1999. Kanu also won in 1996, after Rashidi Yekini in 1993 and Emmanuel Amuneke in 1994. Victor Ikpeba took the crown in 1997.
Gusau said: “I am very excited tonight. This has been hugely rewarding for our football and for our country as a whole. I congratulate Osimhen, Oshoala and Nnadozie, and I congratulate the Super Falcons as a team for bringing us this honour.
My charge would be that they all keep doing what they know how to do best, keep improving and keep winning. The sky will be the beginning for them.”
Osimhen became the first player in the history of the African Football Awards to have been crowned Player of the Year (Men) after having pocketed the Young Player of the Year (Men) in an earlier year. Only last Monday, the 24-year-old was crowned the 2022/2023 Player of the Year in Italy’s Serie A, after having won the Young Player of the Year in the same league in the 2021/2022 season.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA. Palais des Congrès, Movenpick, Marrakech, MOROCCO
The star man of the day, Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen has finally landed in the Atlas Mountain city of Marrakech which is hosting the 2023 CAF Awards.
Dressed in sky blue shirts over an orange vest and blue shorts, the Napoli talismanic striker landed in a chattered private jet.
He is hoped to break the 24-year jinx that has afflicted Nigeria in the lead category of the CAF Awards. Nwankwo Kanu who was honoured on the opening match of the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations in Lagos was the last Nigerian to have won.
That award was for the 1999 edition.
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