CAF debuts qualifying format for Women's Champions League

CAF has taken steps to help the growth of women's football on the continent following the introduction of the inaugural CAF Women Champions League.

In one of the decisions taken during the CAF executive committee meeting, it was resolved that six zones on the continent will organise qualifying formats to determine the eight clubs that will take part in the tournament next year.

"Each of the six CAF zones will organise qualifiers to determine the finalists for the eight-team tournament. The breakdown is one team from each zone, one team from the host country, and one additional team.

For the maiden edition, the zonal union of the host country will have two representatives. However, for subsequent editions, the host country will have only one representative whilst the Zonal Union of the defending champion will qualify two teams," read part of the communication from CAF.

The eight teams will be drawn into two groups of four teams and the competition will be held annually and during the second half of the year.

This progress is one of the resolutions from the four-year women football strategic development plan that was passed in November 2019 in Egypt.

The new competition that was launched in June has created a lot of excitement among different stakeholders on the continent with many in support and there is optimism that it will grow women's football on the continent.

According to Kawempe Muslim SSS coach Ayub Khalifah, the development will play a big part in player exposure.

"The players will get a platform to expose their talent and they will also be able to market themselves. The teams will play with purpose unlike in the past where we won the league and that was that. Now, there is a level you can progress to and the players will play with a lot of focus and the clubs will start to search for good talent," stated Khalifah.