In a recent meeting held at the newly constructed headquarters of the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football (“FRMF”) in Rabat, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Executive Committee announced changes to the format of the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup, starting from this year.
During the meeting held on Friday, June 7, the CAF Executive Committee decided to eliminate the additional second preliminary or playoff round of the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup.
According to a statement on CAF’s website, the Executive Committee approved the cancellation of the additional second preliminary round. As a result, the 16 winning clubs from the second preliminary round will now directly qualify for the Group Stage of both the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for the 2023-2024 season.
“The Executive Committee approved the cancellation of the additional second preliminary of the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup,” part of the statement read.
“This means that the 16 winning Clubs of the Second Preliminary round will qualify for the Group Stage of both the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup 2023-2024 season,” the statement added.
This means that teams will now go through two qualifying rounds instead of the previous three rounds to reach the group stages of the CAF Confederation Cup.
With the elimination of the playoff stage, the 16 winning clubs from the second qualifying round will join the Group Stages, similar to the CAF Champions League.
The new format, which will be implemented from the 2023/24 football season onwards, also signifies that the 16 losing teams from the second qualifying round of the CAF Champions League will no longer drop down to the CAF Confederation Cup.
Furthermore, the first qualifying round for both prestigious CAF competitions is scheduled to be played from August 18-27, while the second qualifying round will take place between September 15 and October 1.
The group stages of both tournaments are set to commence during the opening week of December.
