Club licensing procedures for the #TotalEnergiesWCL Egypt 2021

• 1st Edition of the CAF Women´s Champions League
• Edition 2021 to be played in 2 phases (zonal qualifiers in each zone and a final phase in Egypt)
• 1st year of implementation of club licensing in a CAF Women’s Club competitions
• 34 Clubs were Licensed across the 34 CAF Member Associations
• Massive achievement in terms of professionalisation of the Women’s game in Africa

In preparation for participation in the CAF Women´s Champions League 2021, the CAF member associations concluded a licensing process at national level in respect to the obligation of their clubs having to meet the criteria and requirements set by CAF for participation in the aforementioned competition.

This is the first step on the road to professionalising women’s football in Africa aligned with one of the key objectives set in the CAF Women’s Football Strategy which is is to harness the club licensing regulations to professionalise women football and the structures around it.

With the minimal criteria introduced in this first year of launch of a women´s interclubs competition, CAF has indicated clearly that women’s football clubs should have minimum standards in order to qualify for the CAF Women´s Champions league.

According to the CAF Women’s Champions League Egypt 2021 competition regulations, all clubs must undergo a licensing process at the Member Association level and have been granted a license to participate in the aforementioned competition.

Chapter 1 – Organisation of CAF Women Champions League, article 2.5

“To be eligible to participate in the competition, clubs must have obtained a licence issued by the competent national body…and be included in the list of licensing decisions to be submitted by this body to the CAF administration by the given deadline.”

Clubs intending to participate in the CAF Women’s Champions League Egypt 2021 (zonal qualifiers and final phase) had to fulfil the criteria related to:

• Sporting
• Infrastructure
• Administrative and Personnel
• Legal and Financial

The deadline date of 18 June 2021 was set by CAF for receiving the licensing decisions for the clubs affiliated to the Member Associations which intend to participate in the CAF Women's Champions League Egypt 2021.

The CAF Member Associations were duly informed that only the engagement of a club on to the competitions management system of CAF (CMS) and/or engagement through the zone is not sufficient and it must be accompanied by the licensing procedure of the club at the federation.

Moreover, the Member Associations were also informed via circular and workshops that in the case the federation failed to provide the above-mentioned documents, their clubs engagement and participation could be rejected for the CAF Women’s Champions League Egypt 2021 (zonal qualifiers and final phase).

The CAF Women's Champions League Egypt 2021 Club licensing requirements were set in the CAF circular dated - 2 June 2021 and duly communicated to all the CAF Member Associations and zones. As a pilot competition, CAF has decided to make mandatory selected minimum Club Licensing requirements, such as:

In terms of the Coaching License requirements for the CAF Women’s Champions League Egypt 2021 (zonal qualifiers and final phases), the following coaching requirements were set as mandatory:

Head Coach Licence:

•       CAF “A” , “B” or “C”

•       Other Confederation “PRO”, “A”, “B”

Assistant Coach Licence:

•       No requirement this season

CECAFA

Participating Teams: (9)

Host of qualifiers: Kenya

COSAFA

Participating Teams: (7)

Host of qualifiers: South Africa

UNIFFAC

Participating Teams: (4)

Host of qualifiers: Home and Away matches

WAFU A

Participating Teams: (4)

Host of qualifiers: Cape Verde

WAFU B

Participating Teams: (6)

Host of qualifiers: Cote d´Ivoire

UNAF

Participating Teams: (4)

Host of qualifiers: Morocco

Organization of the Final tournament

For the Organization of the Final Tournament, the CAF Executive Committee approved Egypt as the host