Mamelodi Sundowns could have one of their toughest seasons yet in the 2025/26 campaign, with the return of a continental tournament that carries an eye-watering prizemoney.
The upcoming season will not be a usual one for Sundowns, as they would be coming from competing at the FIFA Club World Cup between June and July.
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When they won the inaugural African Football League in November 2023, they could manage their schedule, tight as it was, as the Carling Knockout only replaced the Telkom Knockout in October of the following year.
The Tshwane giants will be involved in six competitions next term, after CAF President Patrice Motsepe confirmed the return of the AFL.
"We still have African Football League, we have the Club World Cup this year. There is a need to review all our competitions, make them financially more sustainable," Motsepe told the media after being re-elected unopposed in the CAF congress in Egypt.
"The competitions must not be a financial drag - in fact, the opposite. I would like to make more money out of them and you must also be careful that the players don't play in too many competitions because they get tired, and the referees get tired.
"Of course, you have to change referees all the time, but that process is ongoing. I'm confident our club competitions will be world-class," he elaborated.
The AFL will add to the Betway Premiership, MTN8, Carling Knockout, Nedbank Cup, and CAF Champions League that Sundowns will be competing in.
The knock-on effect is that players will be more stretched, as a bulk of them will be with Bafana Bafana at the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco midway into the regular campaign.
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However, on the other side, financially, the return of the AFL gives the defending champions another opportunity to make more millions from the tournament that gave them a R75 million winners' cheque.
It has not yet been confirmed whether the competition will be expanded, as it was reported previously, after it only had eight teams in its first season.