[CONCEPT] A New 3-Tier Hierarchy for CAF Club Competitions
The current two-tournament system is so outdated and both competitions only won by big teams so moving to 3 competitions when each of em give advantages to certain level will be good. Here is a proposal for a total restructure into a three-tier "Ladder System" that rewards consistency and guarantees every nation a path to the top.
🏅 Tier 1: The CAF Elite League (EL) The pinnacle of African football. 24 Teams. 6 Groups of 4. How to get in (The 24 Slots):
- Direct Entry (16 teams): The Top 4 ranked leagues get 2 slots each. Leagues ranked 5th–12th get 1 slot each.
- The Holders (2 teams): Reserved for the previous season’s EL and Challengers Cup winners.
- The "Second-Chance" Path (2 teams): The runner-ups from leagues 5th–12th battle it out in a knockout mini-tournament.
- The "Challenger" Path (4 teams): A seeded playoff for winners of leagues 13th–20th and the 3rd-placed teams from the Top 4 leagues. Progression: The top 2 from each group + the 4 best 3rd-placed teams move to the Round of 16.
🥈 Tier 2: The CAF Challengers Cup (CC) The home of Domestic Cup winners and rising contenders. 28 Teams. 7 Groups of 4. Entry Criteria:
- Domestic Cup Focus: The Cup winners from the Top 20 leagues get direct entry.
- Qualifying Path: 8 slots are up for grabs for:
- Leagues 13th–20th runner-ups.
- Top 4 leagues' 4th-placed clubs.
- Leagues 5th–12th 3rd-placed clubs.
- The Drop-Down System: To keep the stakes high, the two 3rd-placed teams from the Elite League who don’t make the EL Round of 16 drop down into the CC Round of 16.
🥉 Tier 3: The CAF Foundation Trophy (FT) *Developmental focus for leagues ranked 21st to 54th. 32 Teams. 8 Groups of 4. This tier ensures that every single CAF member association has at least one team in a continental group stage. It acts as a "performance ladder"—if teams from a specific league dominate here, they earn enough ranking points to move their entire league into the Tier 1 or Tier 2 brackets for the next season.
For logistical reasons i think doing all this tournament on span of month in one country as locked tournament is better
Additional: Ofc in case of EL/CC holder already qualified to EL the slot will go to the best team from the holder league
Ofc there'll be points awarding system so leagues can go up/down on rankings
What do you guys think? Is 3 tiers too many, or exactly what we need?