By Velile Mnyandu in Yaoundé, Cameroon
Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns will be amongst the African football clubs that will be addressed by CAF President Patrice Motsepe and FIFA President Gianni Infantino on the plans for the establishment of the new African Super League.
Chiefs and Sundowns are amongst the 40 clubs that have been invited to the meeting tomorrow that will see Motsepe and Infantino meeting the member association Presidents between 10am and 12pm and with the clubs between 13:30 and 16:00.
This was confirmed by Motsepe in a round table with members of the media in Yaoundé, Cameroon today as he revealed that the ASL will kick-off in September 2023 and it is expected that the top 24 African football clubs will be part of this project.
These teams must have academies and Women’s Football teams among many other requirements.
The details on how the tournament is going to run are still sketchy at this stage and its expected that the meeting in Douala tomorrow morning will shed more light on this. Speaking after the CAF Exco meeting earlier today in Yaoundé, Motsepe revealed that more clubs will also soon be engaged on this project.
“A few years ago, I think this issue that Africa needs a huge league. And I mean, in the last few months I’ve been President, I’ve instilled a sense of extreme urgency around it,” he said.
“What excites me is that I’ve had private discussions, in fact, I’ve been approached by people who’ve never sponsored football, we want to be part of this because, it’s commercially viable.
“You know, because there’s ethics in CAF now, there’s governance, there’s transparency, there’s accountability,” said Motsepe about the possible new sponsors of the ASL.
iDiski Times understands that this tourney could be a money spinner for the clubs, players and CAF itself. But how it is going to operate remains a mystery and there are concerns that bringing another football competition to an already jam-packed international football calendar is going to be a challenge.
With the contractual legal battle with French sports rights company Lagardere Sports not yet resolved and an arbitration still pending, CAF is believed to be looking at the ASL as part of its solution to open new broadcasting rights avenue with a tournament that is not binded by the Lagardere contract.
Motsepe would have preferred to see the league starting this year but has been realistic about what needs to be done.
“In the meeting that we had this morning, I said, I don’t want anybody to tell me that this league cannot be launched soon. Soon. And I’ll tell you, if it was up to me. I would want this league to start in September this year.
“So realistically, because there’s so much work that needs to be done you need to look at the league’s, you need to look at the current leagues, you need to look at the number of clubs that will participate. And some of the the media broadcasting TV companies are talking to us because they have to be part of this process as well.
“So I’m saying to you, I am told that I’m again, a little bit out of touch with reality because I insist it should be done now. And I’m told realistically, it should start next year in September, concluded Motsepe.
