The newly-established African Super League franchise will have its headquarters in Kigali, Weekend Sport can confirm. Zephanie Niyonkuru, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sports, confirmed the development after Rwanda on August 1 approved a strategic partnership with African Super League limited, the unique inter-continental club competition among the best football clubs in Africa. Niyonkuru highlighted that extensive discussions and collaborative efforts are ongoing, with the team working diligently to finalize the intricate of this significant development. The ASL is set to be launched in August this year. Without divulging more details, Niyonkuru told Weekend Sport that “It is true that the African Super League will have headquarters in Kigali. More details will be communicated in due course, probably in the coming two weeks.” The ASL is a project created with the intention of growing the value of football in Africa and how it is viewed as a sport in the continent. The goal is to help teams develop and improve stadiums, infrastructure and players while also advancing the growth of football throughout Africa. The tournament was officially announced August 10, 2022 in Tanzania. It’s now set to kick off from August until May, from there on the competition will run for 10 months. Each region would have to choose eight teams to participate in the AFL, with 16 different African countries being represented and a maximum of three teams per country. ALSO READ: Can the African Super League make giant strides? Initially, 24 teams from various CAF regions were targeted to take part in the maiden edition of the CAF Super League but there have been important changes as some of the teams could not make the grade. According to CAF head of professional football, Muhammad F. Sidat, there have been important changes in the plans for the African Super League. It was to have 24 clubs divided into three geographical groups (North Africa, Central and West Africa and Southern and East Africa); the number has dropped as most of the teams could not make the grade or they opted out on their own. So far the inaugural edition of the tournament which begins in August 2023 will have eight teams namely Petro de Luanda from Angola, TP Mazembe from Democratic Republic of Congo, Egyptian giants Al Ahly, Guinean powerhouse Horoya, Wydad Casablanca of Morocco, Simba Sports Club of Tanzania, Esperance de Tunis of Tunisia and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa.
