SA's hopes of a third team in the Champions League dashed after Caf changes the rules

25 October 2016 - 11:23 By Mark Gleeson
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South Africa will not be allowed a third team in next year’s African Champions League because the Confederation of African Football (Caf) has changed the rules to limit participation to just two teams from a single country in the competition.

The hope that Mamelodi Sundowns’ victory in the 2016 edition would mean an extra berth for the country in the 2017 Champions League‚ allowing Platinum Stars as the third placed finisher in last season’s Premier Soccer League standings to also participate in the continent’s top club competition‚ have been dashed by a recent change in the regulations.

The rules of the Champions League now state: “No Association will be allowed to engage more than two clubs within the CAF Champions League.

"The association of the holder of CAF Champions League is not allowed to engage another team in case the holder of CAF Champions League is defending its title.”

“The change was brought in last year and so all the speculation about a third South African club in the 2017 edition is incorrect‚” explained CAF’s director of communication Junior Binyam to Times Media Digital.

This means Sundowns‚ already qualified as 2015-16 PSL champions‚ and league runners-up Bidvest Wits will play in next year’s Champions League while Stars‚ who came third in the domestic league‚ and Nedbank Cup winners SuperSport United participate in the 2017 African Confederation Cup.

The holder of the Champions League will continue to be allowed to defend its title but if they had not already qualified‚ they will now take the place of another team from their country.

“Only the Champions League and the champion of the national league will be allowed to participate and the team that finished second in the league will not be allowed to engage in Champions League‚” says the awkwardly written regulations.

More pertinent to the South African case is the following regulation:

“In case the holder of the title is at the same time the champion of the national league‚ they will be entered with the runners-up of the national league and the team that finished third will not be allowed to participate.”

Last year‚ Algeria had three clubs in the Champions League after Entente Setif won the 2014 title but this year the Democratic Republic of Congo had only two teams after TP Mazembe Englebert were victors in the 2015 final. The other was AS Vita Club.

- TMG Digital

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