Caf should consider Uefa-style one-off final

KAMPALA. Maybe continental soccer body Caf should ponder turning back the hands of time, or rather, consider moving with the times of the world’s most successful club competition.
Maybe we should take a long trip back to 1964 when it started out as a humble African Champions Cup! Then, the first team to lift the trophy - Cameroonian side Oryx Douala, did it by beating Stade Malien of Mali 2-1 in a hugely anticipated one-off final.
It is a subject that has been raised before, and that has been sidestepped before by powers at Caf headquarters in Cairo. And they have a point in insisting that Africa must do it their way.
But Africa must also be flexible where need be, especially if that need must help raise the profile of their premier club competition, the more reason the idea of a one-off final should be given a second hearing.
A one-off final has been hugely successful with the Uefa Champions League and the grandness and aura that come with it – plus crazy money from TV is unquestionable.
The one-off final vibe came back strong and ringing in my mind after Algeria’s Entente Setif beat Yunus Ssentamu’s AS Vita on away goals rule following a 3-3 aggregate score to win this year’s Caf Champions League. The Algerians drew 1-1 in North Africa after the first leg had ended 2-2 in DRC.
I’m not suggesting that the Caf Champions League should go back to the rather primitive-self of 1964; devoid of TV and the money that comes with it, but rather to that one-off final format the wise men at Caf started with at the time.
The current format of the Caf CL is of course the same used in the Asian Champions League and the Americas Copa Libertadores and it is not a failure per se.
But our African setting, which is mostly inclined to the European style, would surely thrive more with the Uefa model.
The current two-legged final somehow gets off sync, and for some reason takes away the acclaim Africa’s supposed biggest club competition should boast.
Ask anyone next to you (assuming you also know) who the current African Champions League winner is and you will be shocked by the ignorance. For a few who will be aware, it will perhaps have been informed by the fact that a certain Ugandan called Ssentamu was involved in this year’s final.
For a continent where the game is still growing and where the European setting is a model, the more practical way to increase awareness about our premier club race is to try the Uefa Champions League-style one-off final, where a neutral venue is selected long before the competition starts.
The sensation with which a supposed grand finale should ooze is lost in an ill-marketed two-legged final, which often passes-by fans not connected to the teams in the do. At times most presume the two-legged final is just another knock-out tie.

Rotating venues
Look at it this way, Caf sit at the end of every annual competition, select – on a rotational basis - a neutral venue where the next season’s final will be played.
That way the competition will move across the continent and more awareness about it will be achieved throughout Africa – just like it is in Europe. The anticipation, the build-ups, the excitement ahead of the final; say – in May, August, September or October will be at peak levels with all teams determined to be part of that prestigious one-off final.
Fans of the teams involved will be looking forward to it, and those from the country hosting and those neighbouring nations will possibly be in the grove as well, which would inevitably attract sponsorship and increase awareness about the competition.
The synergy would, in hindsight, rub off other clubs to work even harder so as to be part of the one-off festival every year, with the $1.5m and $1m for the winner and runner-up adding the extra impetus. Of course Caf faces challenges like scheduling of domestic leagues, structuring, and limited standard venues. Also, not many African fans travel for such engagements.
Many would have also preferred the African competition to be scheduled in tandem with the Uefa Champions League.
Ours usually begins around January and finishes around November, with most of the African national domestic leagues starting around July, August, or September and ending around April, May, or June, thus the poor organization of the Caf Champions League fixtures.
But this is something Caf can enforce by tasking their member federations to ensure all national domestic leagues in Africa are started at just about the same time, just like is the case in Europe.

First two-legged final

In 1967, a year after the two-legged ‘home and away’ final was introduced; Ghana’s Asante Kotoko met the DRC’s TP Mazembe in the final. Both games ended 1-1 and 2-2 respectively. Caf suggested a play-off but the Ghanaians refused to compete and the title was handed to Mazembe. Away goals rule was later introduced.

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