Tanzania’s Simba SC set to play in inaugural African Football League

Tanzania Premier League side, Simba SC will be the only team from the Council of East and Central Africa Football Association (CECAFA) that will play in the inuagural African Football League.

According to a release issued on August 29th, the new competition which is a partnership between CAF and FIFA will feature 8 teams.

” The Inaugural edition of the AFL will feature 8 of Africa’s most famous and successful teams from the 3 African Regional Blocks which are: the North Region, the Central-West Region and the South-East Region, ” said the communication by the Africa Football League (AFL), the body that will run the new competition.

Simba SC who also reached the quarter final stage of the 2022/2023 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League will be the only team from the CECAFA Zone, while African giants Al Ahly FC, Espérance Sportive de Tunis (Tunisia) and Wydad Athletic Club from Morocco will be the teams from the North Region.

The communication also cleared named Nigeria’s Enyimba Football Club and the DRC’s Tout Puissant Mazembe as teams that will represent the Central-West Region, while Mamelodi Sundowns FC (South Africa) and Angola’s Atlético Petróleos de Luanda represent the South region.

The draw for the Inaugural Africa Football League will take place on September 2, 2023 in Cairo, Egypt ahead of the kickoff and opening ceremony on October 20th, 2023 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The organisers have made it clear that the the competition will be structured on a home and away basis for all rounds starting with knock-out quarter finals, then the semi-finals and the final.

This historic Inaugural edition of the AFL will take place over four weeks, kicking off with the Opening Ceremony and the first match on 20 October 2023 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The champion of the inuagural Africa Football League will be determined between November 5-11th, 2023.

AFL has made it clear that the 2024/2025 edition will feature the 24 highest ranked football clubs on the African Continent.