Timothy
Mamelodi Sundowns will go down in history as the inaugural winners of the African Football League. Well, there is all the goodwill for the league to grow in the coming years and we hope that will be watered well to ensure the founders’ dreams are reached. The first edition was never accorded a smooth sailing. It took a lot of push and pull before the league got underway, and eventually the title clinched by the South African giants. The league was initially supposed to have 24 teams participating but after a lot of push and pull, the list was whittled down to just eight teams, relegating the fact that it was even called a league. There is no taking anything from the quality of the winners, Mamelodi Sundowns, and their great profile, which itself speaks volumes. With the growing betting scene in South Africa, Sundowns’ win sets the trend nicely for gamblers in South Africa to put their trust in their own teams. The leading bookies in the country have good offers at the same time, highlighted by among others, Fafabet’s R5000 registration bonus, Sportytrader has the best options out of all bookmakers in South Africa.
US$4m richer
Back to the league and Sundowns’ moment of glory, a winning prize of US$4m will be good enough to add to their already stable financial purse. However, this could mask the pitfalls that CAF had to negotiate to get here. Initially we were to have a mini league then knockouts in a tournament that would accommodate 24 continental giants. However, what came to be was just eight teams in a seemingly hurriedly convened competition. Aside from the winners, Petro de Luanda (Angola), TP Mazembe (DRC), Es Tunis (Tunisia), Enyimba International (Nigeria) and Wydad Casablanca (Morocco) were the other teams that took part, based on ranking points. With the reduced number, the winner’s prize money also came down from US$11.5m. The fact that the winning purse was equal to what the CAF Champions League winner would get left even more questions, especially the fact that in the AFL, teams play significantly lesser matches, with reduced travels and over a much shorter period of time.
Run concurrently
What looks like another bad idea, is the communication that this competition will in the coming editions run concurrently with the CAF Champions League, and the continental football governing body will once again try to expand it to the original number of teams. But then, neutrals will ask, what is the target for CAF, and FIFA, who have been vocal and present in supporting the league. The two bodies argue that with the AFL, African football will be more marketable, dissuade players from just wanting to play in Europe, and package the continent’s football as more appealing. However, this looks like another ploy to just boost CAF’s revenue collection pools. If the money can be used to improve football infrastructure, then well and good. Unfortunately, CAF scores poorly in that area. There is also the small issue of fixture congestion. Before Sundowns was cleared to contest, the Premier Soccer League (PSL) board had voted not to clear the team to participate, citing fixture congestion. This will remain a concern going forward, the gains involved notwithstanding.
Online Reporter