CAF Champions League 2026–27 Draw Date Announced

CAF is moving quietly but decisively towards the next edition of its flagship club competition.

According to Moroccan outlet El Botola, citing an official source within the Confederation of African Football’s Club Competitions Committee, the preliminary draw for the 2026–27 CAF Champions League is pencilled in for August 6 in Cairo, Egypt.

The date is not just administrative. It will come once the club registration window has closed and after national football associations have signed off on participating squads, turning the draw ceremony into the first real checkpoint of the new continental campaign.

CAF shuts door on format change

Behind the scenes, there has been pressure to reshape the competition. The Egyptian Football Association pushed a proposal to increase the number of clubs allowed into CAF’s interclub tournaments, a move that would have widened the field and potentially altered qualification battles across the continent.

CAF’s response was blunt. The Competitions Committee has rejected the proposal and opted to keep the current format intact for the 2026–27 season. No expansion. No restructuring. The existing framework for the Champions League and other interclub competitions stays as it is.

For clubs and federations, that clarity matters. The same pathways, the same hurdles, the same fight for limited slots.

Moroccan contenders set for continental test

Morocco will send RS Berkane and Maghreb de Fès into next season’s CAF Champions League, both clubs stepping into a competition that has become brutally unforgiving from the very first round.

The preliminary draw in Cairo will map out their opening assignments, setting the route toward the group stage of Africa’s premier club competition. One ball pulled from a pot in August could define the tone of their entire season.