2 Seychelles' football clubs will go to preliminary rounds of 2 CAF competitions
General |Author: Sedrick Nicette Edited By: Betymie Bonnelame | July 27, 2024, Saturday @ 08:06| 4285 views
St. Louis will face Grupo Desportivo Sagrada Esperança (GDSE) from Angola. (St.Louis FC)
Two Seychelles' football clubs, St. Louis and Foresters, will participate in the preliminary round of two competitions of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the Champions League and Confederation's Cup, respectively.
St. Louis football club, the Seychelles Premier League title holder, will compete in the Champions League with the continent league winners. The Seychelles' side has been drawn against Grupo Desportivo Sagrada Esperança (GDSE) from Angola.
GDSE finished as runner-up in the Angolan first division last season but has won the league title twice in its history.
Should St.Louis get past their opponents, they will meet the winners of the match between US Zilimadjou of Comoros and Enugu Rangers of Nigeria.
Zilimadjou are the Comoros League Champions, a title they have now won for the fifth time, while Rangers are the champions of Nigeria.
Rangers have won the Nigerian Premier League eight times in its history and are one of the nation's top teams.
Until now no club from Seychelles has ever made it to the group stage of the CAF Champions League. St.Michel came close in 2001 when they reached the final qualifying round, but lost 6-0 on aggregate to eventual winners and record champions Al Ahly of Egypt.
Meanwhile, Foresters will face Orapa United of Botswana in the first preliminary round of the CAF Confederation's Cup.
Orapa United FC plays in Botswana Premier League after being promoted from the country's First Division North League in the 2013–14 season. The side qualified for the Confederations Cup after losing in the country's Football Association (DA) Cup to League champions Jwaneng Galaxy.
The winner of this encounter will face Dynamos of Zimbabwe or Zesco United from Zambia in the next round. Dynamos are 21 times champions of Zambia, making them its most successful club. Zesco United have won the Zambia league nine times in their history.
The CAF Confederation Cup was established in 2004 from a merger of the CAF Cup and the African Cup Winners' Cup and organized by CAF.
It is the second-tier competition of African club football, ranking below the CAF Champions League. The winner of the tournament faces the winner of the aforementioned competition in the following season's CAF Super Cup.