SA clubs off the hook in CAF competitions

South African clubs participating in Confederation of African Football (CAF) inter-club competitions next season that don™t have women™s teams can breathe a sigh of relief.

This follows confirmation from CAF Director of Competitions Samson Adamu in an interview with SABC Sport recently, that having a women™s team will not be compulsory for the 2022/23 season.

CAF officials from the club licensing department had announced last season that, for the 2022/2023 CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup, only clubs with registered women™s teams will be eligible to take part in the continental competitions.

This was part of a move to help grow the women™s game in Africa and also followed the launch of the CAF Women™s Champions League last year.

Mamelodi Sundowns, Cape Town City, Marumo Gallants and Royal AM are the four PSL representatives in the CAF-interclub competitions this coming season.

Out these teams, only Sundowns have a women™s team, while Gallants have announced the acquisition of a SASOL provincial league side™s status, with TS Galaxy and University of Pretoria the only other clubs out of all 32 PSL members clubs to have women™s teams.

In the SA football structures, nothing compels clubs to have women™s teams, though, in its Vision 2022 document, the target by 2020 was for each club from the fourth tier (Regional Football Leagues) to the Premier Division in the National Soccer League to have a women™s team. 

But that has never been implemented as part of the club licensing in the country or in those leagues. SABC Sport has now learnt that there will be a slight delay in the implementation of this policy at CAF level.

œSo far, we will not effect it at 100% yet but we're working just to make sure that we give the clubs as much incentive as possible. So, it's not so much punishment or restriction as most people will think when you hear the regulations, Adamu explained.

œThis part of it is really just to work with clubs to encourage them so that we can work together, and it's been progressive, it has been very good.

Sundowns Ladies are expected to defend their title between October and November this year, with the second edition of the competition set to be held on local shores, though the host city has yet to be confirmed.

By Velile Mnyandu