Patrice Motsepe, president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), has explained why the African Football League will have just 8 teams in its inaugural season.

On Friday, Motsepe claimed they were unable to secure enough sponsors to set up a 24-team competition.

“I must develop football in every one of the 54 nations of Africa, the inaugural African Football League didn’t go the way I wanted it to go, and it’s simply because of money.

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“Many of the sponsors said we’re excited about the ‘African Super League’, what it was called but I had to change the name to ‘African Football League’ because some of our sponsors in Europe said to call it whatever you want except for Super League because of the challenges they experienced with the Super League.

“I’m not so worried about what it’s called, I’m more focused on the success and its contributions to the development of African football. 

During the current 2023–24 season, CAF could have launched the first African Football League, but I would have had to accept a little less funding than we desired, he stated.

Enyimba International, the champion of the Nigeria Premier League, is one of the eight clubs who will play in the opening round.

The semi-finals are slated for October 29 and November 1 while the two-legged final is scheduled for November 5 and 11.

The quarter-finals are played over two legs from October 20 to October 24.