The Confederation of African Football (CAF) have announced revisions to the format of the CAF Confederation Cup, effective this year.
On Friday, June 7, the CAF Executive Committee decided to cancel the additional second preliminary or playoff round of the CAF Confederation Cup during a meeting held at the newly constructed headquarters of the Moroccan Football Federation.
According to a statement on the CAF website, the Executive Committee approved the cancellation of the additional second preliminary round.
As a result, the 16 victorious clubs from the second preliminary round will now directly qualify for the group stages of both the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup for the 2023/24 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 implies that instead of the previous three qualifying rounds, clubs will now go through two to reach the CAF Confederation Cup group stages.
With the elimination of the playoff stage, the 16 winning clubs from the second qualifying round, identical to the CAF Champions League, will enter the Group Stages.
The new system, which will be introduced beginning with the 2023/24 football season, also means that the 16 losing teams from the CAF Champions League’s second qualifying round will no longer be relegated to the CAF Confederation Cup.
The first qualifying round for both championships will be held from August 18-27, followed by the second qualifying round from September 15 to October 1.
