CAF disarray heaps pressure on SA clubs

South African club officials are angry at the lack of clarity over next year's continental club competitions.

To make matters worse, the four PSL clubs who will be competing in next year's African Champions League and African Confederation Cup do not know the dates for their fixtures, which usually start in February and, despite appeals to CAF, they still have to register players before the opening of the January transfer window.

Clubs also do not know when the draw for the competitions will be made, but one senior official, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "That's the least of our concerns."

"We were promised significant changes for the better but as things stand now we are in the dark," the official said.

"It is frustrating and unprofessional. How are clubs supposed to plan for the second half of the season, to buy players in the transfer window and balance commitments in domestic competitions and the travel in Africa?

"How difficult can it be to draw up a calendar of fixtures so clubs and domestic leagues can plan their domestic fixtures?

Massive changes were proposed to the two annual club competitions at a CAF symposium in Morocco, where it was decided that the competition dates would be changed.

Instead of being held inside a calendar year, starting in February and finishing in November, CAF agreed with the proposals to change to an August start and May finish.

Clubs also wanted changes to registration windows to conform with the established international dates of January and mid-year.