CAF Champions League
ENYIMBA BOSS, ANYANSI AMONG TOP CLUB OFFICIALS AT CAF/FIFA REFORM TASKFORCE MEETING
The Chairman of Enyimba FC of Nigeria, Felix Anyasi Agwu, was among the 13 top ranking African club presidents and representatives that met on Wednesday with the leadership of CAF and FIFA to discuss the challenges and opportunities regarding the development and the future of African inter-club competitions.
According to information from CAF website, the discussion focused on revenue generation which could be reinvested in football.
The discussion also focused on football infrastructures, which were considered crucial to the development of the game at club level.
Player transfers, solidarity payments and training compensation, safety and security of players and fans, as well as the importance of digital communications to respond to the needs of the young fans were also raised.
The financial challenges and the logistical constraints faced by the large majority of the African clubs were highlighted as well.
Talks additionally covered the international match calendar and the necessity to reflect a fair balance between clubs and national teams needs given their interconnection.
A consensus was reached between all participants that African club football needs to be radically transformed into a more appealing product.
Concretely this means restructuring club competitions with the view to significantly increasing the number of African clubs playing at top level.
This deep reform of African club football will help to bring it to a more global audience.
Speaking at the meeting CAF President, Ahmad said: “We all love football and we love our continent.
“Together we have the possibility to create a bright future for African football and in order to do this we are here to first listen to you and then to work together to elevate African football to the next level.”
His words were echoed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino who said: ”In the last two weeks 28 countries, more than half of Africa, have competed in qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2022.
“We were excited to broadcast these games live for the first time ever to the world via FIFA.com.
“A global audience of more than 10 million football fans tuned in to see the unique spirit and feeling of African football in action and we want to do even more to take African football global!
“The potential of African football is immeasurable and if we work hand in hand, everyone around this table playing their part, we can do great things for the development of the game we all love so dearly.”
Nigeria’s sole survivor into the second round of the CAF Champions League, Enugu Rangers have crashed out of the competition. They lost 3-1 to Angola’s Sagrada Esperança this Sunday in Luanda.
The aggregate scoreline is 3-2 as Rangers last weekend won their home game 1-0. Sagrada Esperança opened the game with offensive and got their first goal barely six minutes into the game when Alexandre Fernando found the back of the net.
The hosts doubled their lead in the 33rd minute through Mussa. But four minutes later, Enugu Rangers reduced the tally to 2-1 to carry an away goal advantage into half time.
Jamie Pimpao got the much needed goal for Angola in the 67th minute to seal the hopes of Rangers.
Sagrada Esperança will now go into next month’s draw for the draw of the group stage.
CAF Champions League 2nd Preliminary Round action resumed on Saturday, 14 September following the resumption of the Africa’s premium club competition on Friday.
It was mostly the travelling teams that secured victories away from home on Saturday, who put themselves in fairly comfortable situations ahead of the return leg next week.
Orlando Pirates had a mental obstacle to overcome in Gaborone against Jwaneng Galaxy, having to face the same side that eliminated them in the same phase of the competition last season.
The former champions secured a 2-0 victory in Gaborone to put themselves in a comfortable position ahead of the return leg next weekend.
Five-time champions, TP Mazembe were away to Red Arrows in Zambia where they also put two past their hosts ahead of the return leg in Lubumbashi.
Mamelodi Sundowns, who played their away match in the comfort of their home stadium against Swaziland’s Mbabane Swallows made use of home ground advantage with a comfortable 4-0 win over their neighbours.
Tanzanian champions, Young Africans secured a hard-fought 1-0 win over CBE SA of Rwanda as Tanzanian giants continue to chase a continental title.
It was a rather tough outing for Moroccan outfit, AS FAR when they travelled to Sudan to face Al Merrikh. A highly entertaining encounter concluded with a 2-2 draw, ahead of the return leg in Morocco.
Egyptian side, Pyramids FC also played out to a draw when they were held 1-1 by APR FC in Rwanda.
Burkina Faso side, Association Sportive des Douanes out up an impressive showing when they edged Algeria’s CR Belouizdad by 1-0.
The first leg of the 2nd Preliminary Round concludes on Sunday, with five interesting encounters lined up, including reigning champions Al Ahly kick starting their title defense away from home.
TotalEnergies CAF Champions League Results & Fixtures:
Friday, 13 September
Enugu Rangers 1 – 0 Sagrada Esperanca
Monastir 0 – 1 MC Alger
Saturday, 14 September
CBE SA 0 – 1 Young Africans
Red Arrows 0 – 2 TP Mazembe
Al-Merrikh 2 – 2 AS FAR
Jwaneng Galaxy FC 0 – 2 Orlando Pirates FC
Maniema Union 2 – 1 Petro de Luanda
Djoliba 1 – 0 ASKO
Douanes 1 – 0 CR Belouizdad
Sunday, 15 September
12h00 GMT | Gor Mahia vs Al Ahly
15h00 GMT | Samartex vs Raja CA
16h00 GMT | San Pedro vs Al-Hilal
16h00 GMT | Dekedaha vs ES Tunis
19h00 GMT | Stade d’Abidjan vs Milo FC
The return leg fixtures of the 2nd Preliminary stage will be played between 20 – 22 September.
-CAF
Enugu Rangers’ patchy form in the CAF Champions League continues as they struggled to beat visiting Angola’s Sagrada Esperance 1-0 in the first leg match played at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.
It was in similar fashion that they played against Union Sportive de Zilimadjou of Comoros Islands who they beat 2-1 over two legs in Uyo.
Rangers’ lone goal was scored by Kazeem Ogunleye in the 80th minute.
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