The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced that Morocco will be hosting the 2021 CAF Champions League final in Rabat.
Africa’s football governing body also made the announcement for the hosts of the 2021 CAF Confederation Cup final with Benin given the honours of that. The final will be hosted in Cotonou.
CAF also made several other announcements including the U20 Africa Cup of Nations (U20 AFCON) finals, which will be hosted by Egypt. Egypt will also stage the first-ever women’s CAF Champions League later this year.
The 2023 U17 AFCON finals will be hosted by Algeria, while the 2022 Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations finals will take place in Mozambique.
CAF released the below statement on their official website.
The Executive Committee meeting, chaired by the CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe, took key decisions on competitions, chairpersons and deputy chairs of CAF standing committees in Kigali, Rwanda.
The Executive Committee (EXCO) also reaffirmed their commitment to good governance, development of football infrastructure and professionalization of refereeing in Africa.
The meeting was joined by HE Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda and Minister of Sports, Ms. Aurore Mimosa Munyangaju. HE. Paul Kagame delivered a welcoming address to CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, where he emphasized the relationship between football and development in Africa.
The meeting acknowledged the work that has been done in laying solid foundation for the CAF-FIFA Pan-African Schools Football Championship and the implementation of the training program aimed at strengthening the professionalization of refereeing in Africa.
The General Secretary Mr Véron Mosengo-Omba informed the CAF Executive Committee about the interim Audit Report from PWC which was commissioned upon the arrival into office of the new President Dr Patrice Motsepe and the General Secretary.
In particular, the report found that there are potential irregularities and non-compliance with governance, auditing and ethical procedures in relation to procurement of services and the conclusion of agreements.
President Patrice Motsepe and the General Secretary expressed their commitment to take appropriate action when the final PWC auditing Report is submitted, to ensure that there is adherence to global best practices in relation to auditing, governance, procurement and tender processes.
CAF-FIFA Pan-African Schools Football Championship
The President of CAF informed the Executive Committee of the decision of the Motsepe Foundation to donate USD 10 million to CAF to finance the CAF-Pan-African Schools Football Championship.
The Committee approved the CAF-Pan-African Schools Football Championship as part of the CAF competitions.
Infrastructure development
The Committee took note, on the basis of a documented presentation, of the state of football infrastructure in the continent and took stock of the needs. The presentation proposed a plan to finance the necessary improvements to the tune of $ 1 billion, which will need to be carefully considered.
Professionalization of match officials in Africa
The EXCO has been informed of the implementation of the training program for an elite body of referees within CAF. This program is as a result of about USD 1 million per year collaboration agreement signed with FIFA. It aims to contract referees who will be paid, monitored and trained by FIFA / CAF technical and physical instructors.
Competitions and other decisions of the Executive Committee
CAF Executive committee approved the host countries for the following competitions:
TOTAL CAF Champions League 2020/2021: Morocco
TOTAL CAF Confederation Cup 2020/2021: Benin
TOTAL CAF Women Champions League 2021: Egypt
TOTAL CAF U20 Africa Cup of Nations 2023: Egypt
TOTAL CAF U17 Africa Cup of Nations 2023: Algeria
Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations 2022: Mozambique
The Executive Committee also approved the decisions of the Emergency Committee relating to the postponement of the African qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 ™ which were supposed to be played in June 2021. The qualifiers will now take place in the existing windows of September, October and November 2021, and March 2022.
