CAF Champions League

Salif Keïta, Runner-up in 1965 and 1966 with Stade Malien and Real Bamako

Starting life as the 'African Cup of Champions Clubs' in 1964, the first team to lift the trophy was Cameroonian side Oryx Douala, who beat Stade Malien of Mali 2–1 in a one-off final.[2]

There was no tournament held the following year, but the action resumed again in 1966, when the two-legged 'home and away' final was introduced, which saw another Malian team AS Real Bamako take on Stade d'Abidjan of the Côte d'Ivoire. Bamako won the home leg 3–1 but it all came apart for them in the away game in Abidjan as the Ivorians went on to win 4–1 to take the title 5–4 on aggregate.[3]

In 1967 when Ghana's Asante Kotoko met the DRC's TP Mazembe, both matches ended in draws (1–1 and 2–2 respectively). CAF arranged a play-off, but the Ghanaians failed to appear[4] and the title was handed to Mazembe, who went on to win the title again the following year.[5]

However, the Ghanaians got their revenge in 1970, when Kotoko and Mazembe once again met in the final. Once again, the first game ended 1–1, but against expectation the Ghanaians ran out 2–1 winners in their away game to lift the title that had eluded them three years earlier.[6]

The 1970s saw a remarkable rise in the fortunes of Cameroonian club football, which created the platform of success enjoyed by Cameroonian football at international level today.

Between 1971 and 1980 Cameroonian teams won the cup four times, with Canon Yaoundé taking three titles (1971,[7] 1978[8] and 1980[9]) and US Douala lifting the cup in 1979. In between the Cameroonian victories the honor was shared with another team enjoying a golden age, Guinean side Hafia Conakry, who won it three times during this period (1972,[10] 1975[11] and 1977[12]).

Mohamed Aboutrika, 5 Times Champions league winner with Al Ahly

Apart from the introduction of the away goals rule (in which the team wins which has scored more goals playing 'away' if there is a tie in the aggregate score line over the two legs), very little changed in this competition until 1997. In this year, CAF took the bold step to follow the lead established a few years earlier in UEFA by creating a league stage in the tournament and changing the name to the CAF Champions League. CAF also introduced prize money for participants for the first time. With a purse of US$1 million on offer to the winners and US$750,000 to the losing finalist, the new Champions League became the richest club competition in Africa.

In the new format, the league champions of the respective CAF member countries went through a series of preliminary rounds until a last 16 stage. The 8 winners were then drawn into two mini-leagues of 4 teams each, with each team playing each other on a home and away basis. At the end of the league stage, the top two teams in each group met in the semifinals, with the winners going through to contest the finals.

Beginning with the 2009 season, prize money increased to 1.5 million for the champion and 1 million for the runner-up. Since the competition changed to the Champions League format, teams from North Africa have come to dominate the record. Morocco's Raja CA won two of the first three editions,[13] but Al Ahly became the most successful team, winning the tournaments in 2001,[14] 2005,[15] 2006,[16] 2008[17] and 2012,[18] while Zamalek managed to be champions in 2002.[19] Tunisian teams broke into the championship with the title of Étoile du Sahel, which in 2007 was proclaimed champion after being finalist in 2004 and 2005.[20] For its part, Espérance de Tunis achieved its second continental title in 2011 after having lost in the final in the 1999, 2000, 2010 and 2012 editions.[21]

Despite the clear dominance of North African and North African teams, in 2003 and 2004 the Nigerian Enyimba won their first two championship titles.[22][23] ASEC Mimosas from the Ivory Coast and Accra Hearts of Oak from Ghana added two championships for black Africa. In 2010, TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of the Congo became the first club to repeat as champions on two separate occasions. His first pair of wins came in 1967 and 1968,[24][25] before repeating the feat again in 2009 and 2010.[26][27] In 2017, the group phase was expanded from 8 to 16 teams and the mini-leagues from 2 to 4 and the addition of one extra knock-out round.

In 2020, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the matches were then played behind closed doors, Al Ahly faced their great rival Zamalek in a Egyptian final (the first time in history that two clubs from the same countries compete),[28] and it is Al Ahly who wins and wins his ninth title.[29] In 2021, Al Ahly retains its title and enters a little more into the history of African football by winning its 10th CAF Champions League against the South Africans of Kaizer Chiefs.[30]

Official trophy

Each year, the winning team is presented with the African Champion Clubs' Cup, the current version of which has been awarded since 1997. 40 gold medals are presented to the Champions League winners, and 40 silver medals to the runners-up.

In 1997, the CAF introduced prize money for the eight participants in group stage for the first time in a club competition in Africa.

In 2009, the CAF had increased prize money to be shared between the Top 8 clubs as follows:[40]

The CAF has increased prize money to be shared between the Top 16 clubs starting from 2017 to 2021.[41][42][43]

* Note: National Associations receive an additional equivalent share of 5% for each amount awarded to clubs.