With the final of the African Football League set to be a two-legged clash, there is a compelling argument for why CAF needs to scrap this format.
CAF has always maintained the tradition of having two-legged finals in both the CAF Confederation Cup and the CAF Champions League. However, in the first-ever CAFCL season in 1964/65, the final was a single-leg affair, with Oryx Douala of Cameroon beating Mali outfit Stade Malien 2-1 at a neutral venue (Accra Stadium in Ghana) to claim the prize.
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Immediately after that inaugural campaign, though, the format of the final was changed to a two-legged affair, and this has continued for several decades up until the 2018/19 season, before the next three editions in 2020, 2021, and 2022 adopted a single-leg format again. The 2022/23 CAFCL final reverted back to the two-legged structure as Al Ahly claimed a record-extending 11th title in the competition after beating Wydad Casablanca 3-2 on aggregate.
This format has formed part of CAF's top two club tournaments' identity as there is a huge familiarity with the way African finals are decided. But what good does this format bring in the grand scheme of things? For starters, playing one half of a final at home in front of boisterous home support gives the hosts an undeniable competitive advantage as the environment tends to exert more pressure on the visitors. Moreover, some home-team supporters in Africa also have a tendency to deliberately cause disruptions ahead of games, like pelting visiting players with insults and intercepting the team bus' movement on its way to the match venue.
There have also been various complaints by respective clubs about inhospitable accommodation provided to them by host nations. It is clear the two-legged final format enables all these mind games, but these underhanded tactics can easily be avoided.
With these tricks potentially having an influence on results, CAF should have considered a single-match final for their new flagship tournament, the African Football League. The tournament is the most lucrative club event on the continent, but African football's organising body has made no compelling attempt to negate the aforementioned problems by having the final at the neutral ground.
Perhaps from a commercial perspective, it makes sense for CAF to have a two-legged final, as they stand to make more or less double the amount of money on ticket sales alone. The current format seems to prioritise external interests rather than sporting integrity, which constitutes fair and honest competition, unaffected by illegitimate factors. By contrast, single-match finals tend to have a greater element of unpredictability as the winners are decided in one game, even if it goes to extra-time or a penalty shootout.
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A simple tweak of the format could be a necessary step could go a long way to making CAF competitions a more professional and enjoyable affair!
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