Four PSL clubs to represent South Africa in the Champions League after Caf changes

South Africa and Egypt will have four teams in the African Champions League from next year after the two countries benefited massively from the Confederation of African Football’s (Caf) recent reforms.

SA could only enter two teams in the past — the Premier Soccer League (PSL) champions and the runners-up — but South African Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan said things are about to change.

‘‘If you look at what is happening in the Premier League in England‚ the first thing those clubs try to do is win the league title and if they can’t do it‚ then the next motivation is to try to get into the top four to have a guarantee of going into the UEFA Champions League‚” he said on Wednesday.

The continent’s football bosses and players met in Rabat‚ Morocco‚ a few days ago and they endorsed several changes to the way the game is run on the continent‚ including switching the calendar to August-May.

South African football is reaping the fruits of Mamelodi Sundowns’ triumphant march to the Champions League title last year.

Orlando Pirates’ run to the final of the 2013 Champions League and their run to the final of the 2015 Caf Confederations Cup also helped sway the continental football bosses.

As if that were not enough‚ Sundowns are in the quarterfinals of this year’s Champions League while SuperSport United are flying the SA flag in the Caf Confederations Cup.

All of these performance cast SA in a positive light and four PSL clubs will get a chance to participate in the lucrative continental club competition.

‘‘As you can see for both Egypt and South Africa they (Caf) have allocated four places in the Champions League and that is on the basis that these teams are strong‚ thriving and truly professional teams‚” Jordaan said.

‘‘Some of our teams (in SA) can compete with the best clubs anywhere in the world. But it is not so for every country in the world.

‘‘This is something we have to greatly support and give more attention to‚ which is part of the reason why we come here (to SA) in September to address this matter.

‘‘Even professional football in this country has come a long way and it is now that it has taken a step up. It is not so on the rest of the continent.

Jordaan‚ who is also Caf Executive Member‚ hinted that the Champions League’s prize money could be increased considerably after the changes.

He said continental football bosses would meet in SA to iron out the obvious lose strings as the calendars of some African countries will be affected by the many decisions taken by Caf a few days ago.

Safa will meet with the PSL to discuss how they enter teams into the Caf Confederations Cup.

“This is good for the game. African has simply synchronized its calendar with the rest of the world and this will benefit Africa a great deal.

"We are likely to witness more competitive tournaments with more viewership and definitely more revenue‚” said Jordaan.

— TimesLIVE