Clubs given a second chance

TWELVE countries are to be allowed to have a second representative in the expanded African Champions League which starts next year, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced on Friday.

Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Egypt, the Ivory Coast, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia were named by CAF as the countries which have performed best in continental club competition over the last five years. They will be offered the chance to have two representatives in the Champions League, which has been increased to 64 teams from next year.

The 12 countries will also be allowed to have two representatives in the new Confederation Cup, which is to be launched next year to replace the African Cup Winners' Cup and the CAF Cup. This will give each of the 12 countries four representatives in continental club competition from next year, one more than usual.

The winner and the runner-up in their respective leagues will go to the 2004 Champions League while the national cup winner and the third place finisher in the league qualify for the Confederation Cup.

Changes to African club competitions were decided in December by CAF in an effort to increase the commercial viability and marketability of their annual competitions. The format follows closely the changes made in recent years to European club competition.

The Champions League is the only one of the three annual African club tournaments that has attracted sponsorship. It has a television and marketing contract with French company Sport Five, which runs until 2008 and is worth $40 million.

The merger of the Cup Winners' Cup and the CAF Cup into a single competition is in an attempt to attract sponsorship.

There will be a league format to the competition at the last eight stage, as is already the case with the Champions League.