Simba SC, Al Ahly prepare for African Football League showdown

19Oct 2023
The Guardian Reporter
Sport
The Guardian
Simba SC, Al Ahly prepare for African Football League showdown

AFRICAN Football League (AFL), the biggest club football tournament on the continent, gets underway at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam tomorrow. 

 

Hosts, Simba SC of Tanzania, opens the tournament with a quarterfinal match against record African champions, Al Ahly of Egypt. 

The tournament with a prize fund of more than $9.6m will feature eight of the top clubs from every region on the continent competing for a title every year, starting tomorrow.

The league, which is set to change the future of club football on the continent, will have teams from every region competing for a title every year starting tomorrow.

This year’s competing football clubs, selected following CAF rankings, will include Al Ahly (Egypt), Wydad AC (Morocco), Simba SC (Tanzania), and Esperance Sportive de Tunis from Tunisia.

TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria's Enyimba FC, Mamelodi Sundowns from South Africa, and Petro de Luanda from Angola complete the contenders' list.

The Egyptian giants resumed training on Tuesday in Cairo after the international FIFA break and had their players who had been away for national team duty joining the outfit. 

The 2023/24 CAF Champions League defending champions were expected to land in Dar es Salaam later yesterday aboard a chartered flight. 

The AFL's first match host, Simba SC, on the other hand, resumed training on Monday and has plenty of confidence ahead of perhaps the side's biggest match ever.

The Tanzanian side has been boosted by the availability of goalkeeper Aisha Manula who had been out with an injury for the last four months.

Meanwhile, CAF has announced a partnership with Rwanda's government, through the Rwanda Development Board, Ministry of Sports, and RwandAir.

According to CAF reports, the partnership aims to develop African football through the new African Football League that features the best soccer clubs in the continent on a global stage.

As a founding partner of the league, the 'Visit Rwanda' branding will be visible on the sleeves of players’ jerseys.

The brand's logo will also be found in stadiums which will host the tournament's encounters, partner workshops and events, broadcast and online media channels, websites, and more.

Rwanda’s national carrier, RwandAir will further be an airline partner of the league and will transport participating teams to countries that are on its routes.

 

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