Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Patrice Motsebe will launch an “African Super League” in Tanzania on Wednesday, with promises of up to $100 million in prizes for clubs struggling with cash.

African club owners have been complaining for decades about the costs of participating in the current top-tier competition, the CAF Champions League, which offers a $2.5 million first-place prize out of a prize pool of just $12.5 million.

So, after his club Mamelodi Sundowns won the CAF Champions League in 2016, 60-year-old South African billionaire businessman and CAF President Motsebe admitted that the prize money did not cover all costs.

Accordingly, Motsebe assured that “more profitable business awaits us” as he will reveal the details of the Super League in the Tanzanian city of Arusha on Wednesday during a meeting of the KAF executive office.

He had previously revealed that the prize pool would be $100 million and hinted that the champion would receive at least $10 million.

And FIFA President Gianni Infantino of Switzerland said earlier: “There are some African clubs that actually have millions of fans and their owners have to pay money to participate in CAF competitions.”

CAF Champions League prizes are paid out in the group stage only, meaning that 42 of the 58 participants in the 2023 draw will incur travel, accommodation and other expenses, but will not receive money from CAF.

In this context, Hamdi Meddeb, president of the Tunisian club Esperance, who won the Champions League four times, said: “If we think about how much we spend on the Champions League compared to what we achieve, it would be better not to play. in that.”

“Africa is a huge continent and sometimes we have to book flights over $100,000 each,” he said.

“When we won the Champions League (in 2018 and 2019), more than half of the prize money was spent on bonuses and allowances for the team and coaching staff. These are contractual obligations.”

– ‘Competition with the best in the world’ –

“We want CAF Super League to become a global competition and compete with the best in the world in terms of football quality, resources, infrastructure, stadiums, referees and tickets,” Motsebe stressed.

“The Super League will be organized in partnership with FIFA, which has a wealth of experience in managing the best competition in the world, the World Cup,” he added.

On the other hand, Infantino said: “The Super League is an exciting and unique project and FIFA is happy to help and share the experience we have gained.”

Although no further details about the upcoming competition have been officially announced, it is believed that 24 clubs will participate in the first edition.

These clubs will be distributed as follows: eight from North Africa, which dominate football on the continent, eight from the center of the continent and eight from the South.

Invitations to the new competition will be based on the results of two annual tournaments, the African Champions League and the Confederation Cup.

In the forefront of participants from the north, the Moroccan Wydad Casablanca, the reigning champion, and his compatriot Raja Casablanca, as well as Al Ahly, the Egyptian Zamalek and Esperance.

It is also certain that TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a five-time African champion, will be among the midfield clubs.

The Sundowns, a Pretoria club owned by Motsepa and run by his son Tluban, will also be among the entrants from clubs in the South whose clubs have qualified for the play-offs of the continental tournament since 2016.

A CAF spokesperson suggested that after the preliminary round divided by geographic region, there would be three playoffs before advancing to the final.

Despite the enthusiasm for the new idea, not everyone seems to agree with the Super League, with John Cometis, owner of South African club Cape Town City, calling it a “very ridiculous idea”.

And he warned that “the Super League will kill African football”, noting that “at this time it will be possible to turn off the lights at the local championships.”