Sports Briefs
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THE Confederation of African Football, CAF, has increased the prize money for all its competitions starting from 2017. The African football body announced the increment on Wednesday, November 9, in Cairo, Egypt. The announcement came months after French oil-gas company Total signed an eight-year sponsorship deal with CAF reportedly worth more than $1 billion (915 million euros).
Winners of the biennial Africa Cup of Nations will receive $4 million, up from the $1.5 million pocketed by 2015 champions the Ivory Coast. CAF Champions League title-holders are going to collect $2.5 million, $1 million more than South African club Mamelodi Sundowns received last month.
There is an even bigger percentage increase for winners of the second-tier CAF Confederation Cup with first prize increasing from $660,000 to $1.25 million. Both the Champions League and Confederation Cup group phases — where prize money kicks in — will expand next year from eight to 16 clubs.
Winners of the annual CAF Super Cup match between Champions League and Confederation Cup title-holders pocket $100,000, representing a 33.3 percent rise. The biennial African Nations Championship for home-based footballers is another competition to get a cash boost with first prize climbing by $500,000 to $1.25 million.
Travel costs are a huge challenge for African teams with flights from one country to other often involving lengthy stop-overs in the Middle East and Europe to trim expenses. Clubs like Sundowns are better placed because the Pretoria-based outfit is owned by mining magnate Patrice Motsepe. But in poorer African countries, teams rely on government financial assistance to play in CAF and FIFA competitions.
— Nov 21, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT
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