Αφρικανική Ποδοσφαιρική Λίγκα

Αφρικανική Ποδοσφαιρική Λίγκα

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The African Football League (AFL) is an annual continental men's club football competition run by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) since 2023. It was announced on 28 November 2019 by Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA. It was initially launched as the Africa Super League on 10 August 2022 and was to include twenty-four elite African clubs with a promotion/relegation system, but is scaled down to eight teams for its inaugural campaign. It will run alongside CAF's other main club competition, the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup, and will not be a replacement for it.

The essence of holding this tournament is the huge financial returns, projected to exceed $100 million, to be used to develop and improve stadiums, infrastructure and the promotion of African football.

History

Gianni Infantino launched the tournament during a visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to celebrate the 80th anniversary of TP Mazembe, saying the top 20 clubs in Africa should be chosen and made to participate in an African league. Infantino said this league would generate revenues of $100 million, making it among the top ten leagues in the world, and revealed that he was launching an appeal to raise $1 billion in order to give every African country a football stadium that complies with the specifications of FIFA.

On 17 July 2021, the President of CAF, Patrice Motsepe, confirmed the move to implement the African Super League project as a new tournament ran under the umbrella of CAF, with large financial returns for the sides taking part. The Confederation of African Football launched the competition on 10 August 2022 in Arusha, Tanzania, where more information about the competition was released.

CAF initially wanted to start the competition in August 2023, with reports suggest that 24 clubs would feature in three groups of eight teams, ahead of a knockout stage starting at the Round of 16. These teams would have been taken from the best-ranked African clubs over the past few years, with groups played on a regional basis (North, Central/West, South/East). As part of the club licensing criteria, participating clubs would be required to have a youth academy and a women's team.

On 9 June, the president of CAF, Patrice Motsepe, announced the decision to change the name of the African Super League to the African Football League during an interview with beIN Sport. saying "Our friends in Europe advised us not to use the expression 'Super League' due to the negative associations with the recent failed attempt in European football." On 13 June 2023, during that year's CAF General Assembly in Abidjan, Infantino announced that the competition would be scaled back to 8 teams for the inaugural edition and would now kick off on 20 October 2023, which would be followed by an expanded tournament further down the line. The Africa Football League would also not replace CAF's top club competition, the CAF Champions League. On 29 August 2023, the competition format for the inaugural edition was announced, with the previous format announced to be adopted starting in 2024–25. On 20 October 2023, the president of CAF, Patrice Motsepe, unveiled the African football league trophy.

**Αφρικανική Ποδοσφαιρική Λίγκα**

Το Αφρικανικό Κύπελλο Εθνών είναι μια διεθνής ποδοσφαιρική διοργάνωση που διεξάγεται κάθε δύο χρόνια ανάμεσα σε εθνικές ομάδες της Αφρικανικής Συνομοσπονδίας Ποδοσφαίρου (CAF). Η πρώτη διοργάνωση πραγματοποιήθηκε το 1957 στο Σουδάν με συμμετοχή τριών ομάδων, ενώ από το 1968 συμμετέχουν 16 ομάδες στη διοργάνωση.

Από το 1957 μέχρι το 2000 η διοργάνωση ονομαζόταν Κύπελλο Εθνών Αφρικής. Από το 2000 μέχρι το 2009 ονομάστηκε Κύπελλο Εθνών Αφρικής της Οράνζ λόγω χορηγίας, από το 2010 μέχρι το 2016 Κύπελλο Εθνών Αφρικής της MTN επίσης λόγω χορηγίας και από το 2017 ονομάζεται Αφρικανικό Κύπελλο Εθνών.

Η διοργάνωση διεξάγεται συνήθως σε μήνες με περίεργο νούμερο (πχ. Ιανουάριος ή Ιούλιος) για την αποφυγή σύγκρουσης με το Παγκόσμιο Κύπελλο Ποδοσφαίρου το οποίο διεξάγεται σε μήνες με ζυγό νούμερο (πχ. Ιούνιος ή Ιούλιος). Οι δύο τελευταίες διοργανώσεις (2021 και 2023) εξαιρέθηκαν από αυτόν τον κανόνα για να μην συμπέσουν με το Παγκόσμιο Κύπελλο του Κατάρ το οποίο είχε αναβληθεί για το 2022.

Η Αίγυπτος είναι η πιο επιτυχημένη χώρα στην ιστορία της διοργάνωσης με 7 κατακτήσεις. Συνολικά 15 χώρες έχουν στεφθεί πρωταθλήτριες του Αφρικανικού Κυπέλλου Εθνών.