CAF is growing considerably under president Patrice Motsepe, and judging by its current trajectory, it should not be too long until its premier continental club competition rivals that of the UEFA Champions League, writes Junaid Benjamin.
According to Sports Business Journal, 1.1 million people tuned in to watch the second leg of the UCL quarter-final between Real Madrid and Manchester City in April. Africa's footballing body, meanwhile, are preparing themselves to "attract millions of viewers from across the world" when Egyptian giants Al Ahly take on Esperance Sportive de Tunis in this year's two-legged CAF Champions League final.
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If the organisation wants to truly compete with its European counterpart, getting more eyes on African competition is paramount to achieving this goal, and showing the rest of the world that the tide is turning in its favour. By the looks of things, CAF is heading in the right direction.
"CAF is pulling out all stops in securing cutting-edge broadcast technology that will beam a live and seamless viewing experience for the millions of expected viewers across the globe," it said in a statement on its official website.
A while ago, many would argue that the CAFCL has been dominated by north African clubs because they are the ones who are more regularly in the final. However, Mamelodi Sundowns would beg to differ as they are one of the teams that have positioned themselves to be in the mix whenever favourites to win the competition are spoken of. TP Mazembe was another team in this year's semi-finals, representing east Africa.
Not only that, but with Motsepe's recent promise to invest a significant amount of money into African football, better development of players at a younger age is likely to lead to an increased level of football on the continent. With time, the continental tournament will evolve into what the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations was – an unpredictable tournament filled with shocks, upsets, and quality football.
If that does, in fact, end up being the case, you could make the argument that top clubs in Europe would just end up snatching the players showing promise of attaining elite levels. On the flip-side of that coin, though, there seems to be a strategy that prevents such instances from occurring. First, however, we need to look at what would motivate a player to move abroad. The factors involved in this equation could be money and prestige, which will come over time when even more eyes and ears are glued to the continent's competitions.
While, currently, the financial opportunity in Europe is far greater than that of Africa, that can be changed, and slowly but surely it is. The winners of this year's CAFCL will walk away with a whopping $4 million (around R74 million) in prize money, while the runners-up will earn $2 million (R37 million) for their efforts. What this shows is an increased investment into top-flight football on the continent. After all, Motsepe has previously stated that he wants "to make sure that there's more financial resources, more investment in football pitches, more investments in academies, more investment in the youth, more investment in football for boys and girls, and also more money for the players".
More money for the players means a higher chance of retaining the continent's top talent.
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Orlando Pirates starlet Relebohile Mofokeng attended a trial at Wolverhampton Wanderers in October last year and is reportedly on the radar of Scottish Premiership side Rangers.
Ideally, where the continent would like to be is in a position where promising players in the UK are attending trials at South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns or Egypt's Zamalek. With proper investment and more eyes on CAF competitions, this could very well become a reality. In doing so, Africa retains its talent while also attracting big or prospective names.
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