Egypt FA chief explains why CAF rejected plan to increase African club slots next season

The Egyptian Football Association’s secretary general says a proposal to expand the number of clubs in African competitions has been ruled out for the 2026-27 season by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) due to logistical and organisational constraints.

Mostafa Azzam, speaking on CBC, revealed that CAF president Patrice Motsepe had informed Egyptian FA president Hany Abu Rida that there was not enough time to implement the change in time for next season, although the idea will be considered for 2027-28.

Azzam explained that Abu Rida had moved quickly after the recent World Cup to submit the proposal on Egypt’s behalf, seeking more African slots in both the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup.

“Hany Abu Rida asked me to send a proposal to CAF to increase the number of clubs in the continental competitions one week after the start of the World Cup, which was two weeks before the decision was announced,” Azzam said.

He added: “A week ago I received a letter from the CAF secretary general stating that the proposal had been carefully studied, but logistical and organisational circumstances prevent it from being implemented next season, and they will try to apply it in the 2027-28 season.”

CAF deadline change caused “several problems”

Azzam also pointed to scheduling issues around registering clubs for African tournaments as a further complication for CAF.

He said: “CAF’s decision to postpone the deadline for sending the names of the participating clubs until 25 July instead of 30 June caused them several problems, with the names of the participating clubs changing during that period.”

According to a CAF source quoted by FilGoal.com, Motsepe personally informed Abu Rida of the governing body’s position and the reasons behind the rejection of Egypt’s proposal for 2026-27.

The source said: “Motsepe told Hany Abu Rida that it would be difficult to increase the number of clubs in the continental competitions next season because of the lack of time and the difficulty of implementing the proposal.”

He added that the CAF president “preferred to tell Abu Rida himself and made it clear that the possibility of applying the proposal will be studied for the 2027-28 season”.

Egypt’s proposal to expand African slots

Egypt had formally requested that CAF allow more clubs from top-ranked associations to enter its two main club tournaments.

A statement from the Egyptian Football Association outlined the proposal, saying “the quota of some associations could increase, according to the applicable ranking criteria, to three clubs in the CAF Champions League and three clubs in the CAF Confederation Cup, with the additional clubs entering from the preliminary rounds”.

After receiving the Egyptian request, Motsepe referred Abu Rida’s proposal to CAF’s higher committee tasked with examining the potential expansion of the number of teams in both the Champions League and the Confederation Cup.

Current Egyptian representatives confirmed

Despite the rejection of the expansion plan for 2026-27, Egypt’s current allocation for next season’s African competitions remains in place.

The Egyptian FA confirmed in a statement on Saturday that Zamalek and Pyramids will represent Egypt in the CAF Champions League, while Al Ahly and ZED will compete in the CAF Confederation Cup.

Elsewhere, the consequences of the existing qualification system are evident in Morocco. Wydad will miss out on African competition for the first time since 2015 after finishing fifth in the domestic league last season, leaving them outside the qualifying positions for both CAF tournaments.