Following the approval of the CAF Interclub Committee, it was decided that from the group stages of the both competitions this year, all weekend Champions League fixtures will be played on either a Friday or Saturday, with all midweek fixtures to be played on a Tuesday.
All weekend CAF Confederation Cup matches will take place on a Sunday, with midweek fixtures of that tournament taking place on a Wednesday.
These changes have been brought about to create a better identity for each competition, and will aid in their broadcasting and marketing, according to CAF general secretary Amr Fahmy.
“We strongly believe in having a unique identity for the club competitions and also creating a rendezvous for the fans, a major stakeholder to identify with the two competitions,” Fahmy said. “It will also increase the number of matches broadcasted by the TV rights holders.
“There will be a few exceptions in some special cases since it is a novelty. However, we are hopeful it will mark a giant leap for our club competitions.”
A standard set of kick-off times have also been announced according to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), of which South Africa lies two hours ahead.
The times on each fixture day have been set as follows:
Friday: 16.00 GMT, 19.00 GMT
Sunday: 13.00 GMT, 16.00 GMT, 19.00 GMT
Wednesday: 13.00 GMT, 16.00 GMT, 19.00 GMT
CAF have also finalised the date and venues of each group stage game for both the Champions League and Confederation Cup well in advance, something which had not been previously done in each competition.
The CAF Champions League groups have already been finalised, with the draw for the Confederation Cup groups taking place on Saturday, 21 April following the commencement of this week’s play-off qualifiers.
Mamelodi Sundowns has already been drawn in Group C alongside AS Togo-Port, Horoya and Wydad Casablanca, while SuperSport United and Bidvest Wits must still negotiate their respective play-offs on Wednesday before securing a group stage berth in the Confederation Cup.
SuperSport are at home but 1-0 down in the tie against Kenyan side Gor Mahia, while Bidvest Wits travel to Nigeria to face Enyimba following their 1-1 first leg result at Bidvest Stadium.