A major blow to Al Ahly of Egypt regarding Champions League spots

A senior official in the Confederation of African Football's (CAF) Executive Committee denied reports of an emergency meeting of the committee in the coming hours, asserting that all such reports were false and that committee members had not received any official invitation for an urgent or regular meeting. The official explained to Moroccan media outlets that the Executive Committee had not been notified of any meeting at this time, noting that holding a meeting in Morocco remains an option in the near future, coinciding with the country's hosting of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, should developments warrant it. Meanwhile, sources within CAF revealed that the Competitions Committee recommended against adopting the proposal submitted by the Egyptian Football Association to increase the number of clubs participating in the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup, starting from the 2026-2027 season. The proposal stipulates granting national federations an additional seat in the two tournaments, with the seats distributed according to federation rankings and the regulations governing the competitions. However, the competitions committee prepared a memorandum outlining the technical and organizational justifications for rejecting the idea and submitted it to CAF Secretary General Samson Adamu to complete the institutional procedures before presenting it to the relevant authorities. Despite this recommendation, the matter is not definitively closed, as the football community awaits the press conference to be held by CAF President Patrice Motsepe on Wednesday morning. There is speculation that he will address the future of club competitions and the possibility of amending the participation system, either starting next season or the one after. If the increase in the number of seats is adopted in the future, clubs such as Al Ahly of Egypt, Raja Casablanca of Morocco, and CS Sfaxien of Tunisia would be among the biggest beneficiaries, having finished third in their respective domestic leagues last season, which would have qualified them for the CAF Confederation Cup. The new system could grant them a chance to participate in the CAF Champions League.