The Confederation of Africa Football CAF, have announced that the number of clubs participating in the group stages of the Champions League and Confederation Cup will increase from the present eight teams to sixteen teams from 2017.
The present format of eight teams in the group stages have been in place since 1997 when the group stage format was introduced into the continent's premier club competition.
Already, clubs from Nigeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Angola have two representatives in the two club competitions. It is not clear whether the number would go up.
This new development which was announced by the CAF president Issa Haytou in the just concluded CAF congress which told place on the sidelines of the FIFA congress in Mexico will no doubt bring a new impetus into the club competitions in Africa. The eight team group stage was seen as too restrictive, and it prevented clubs from certain parts of the continent especially East Africa from qualifying for the group stages.
For instance, if the sixteen teams group stage format were to start this year, TP Mazembe of DR Congo, who are the Champions League holders would have been able to defend their trophy, as they were knocked out at the round of 16 stage.
With the opening of the competition to accommodate more clubs, it will also have a domino effect on the financial benfits that would accure from featuring in the later stages of the competition.
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