This certainly wasn’t on my bingo card. Coming into the fourth edition of the CAF Women’s Champions League, expectations were that the continental title would be retained by Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa or regained by the Moroccan hosts, Asfar Rabat. Between them they had won all three previous editions of Africa’s premier women’s club competition. Instead, it was TP Mazembe, a Congolese club only founded four years ago, who claimed continental glory with a 1-0 win in El Jadida.
With Asfar Rabat having already beaten Mazembe 3-1 in the group stage, the 15,000 partisan Moroccan fans would have been expecting a procession but Marlène Kasaj’s 10th-minute penalty, awarded after VAR intervention, silenced the crowd. After that, and in front of the Morocco head coach, Jorge Vilda, sacked by Spain in the aftermath of Luis Rubiales kissing Jenni Hermoso, Asfar failed to threaten the Mazembe goal and the away side saw out a relatively comfortable victory. The tournament’s top scorer and breakout star, Doha El Madani, came closest with a free-kick she sent just wide of the post but in truth it was Mazembe who carried a greater threat on a day when they subdued their usually free-scoring opponents.
It capped off a tournament that has perfectly summed up the brilliance of women’s football in Africa while also highlighting some of the issues on the continent. Despite a cagey final, the tournament has been full of upsets and thrills. Sundowns being knocked out in the group stage was a shock. Despite possessing a squad that boasts 11 South African internationals, Banyana Ba Style fell to a surprise opening 1-0 defeat to Egyptian debutants Masar and then conceded two goals in stoppage time to Nigerian side Edo Queens to come third in their group.
In the semi-finals, Edo Queens were similarly heading for a 1-0 win against Mazembe but against the run of play, the Central Africans scored a 90th-minute equaliser before going on to win in extra time. Masar thought they had pulled off a similar feat when they pegged Asfar back to 1-1 in the 95th minute with a penalty that was initially saved but retaken thanks to VAR intervention. But just a minute after bringing the game level, Masar agonisingly conceded again.
Despite the entertaining football, interest for the tournament was low on the ground with games struggling to attract more than a couple of thousand fans. And unlike the last time Morocco hosted the tournament, because Asfar were playing games in El Jadida, 100 miles south of the capital Rabat, even their games struggled to attract fans until the final. It is likely to be a similar story when the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations returns to Morocco this summer. The Atlas Lionesses will have full stadiums of 40,000+ but only nations such as Senegal, with large immigrant communities in Morocco, will attract more than a few hundred fans.
Outside Morocco, CAF sealed deals with national broadcasters in all the countries represented, as well as with SuperSport and Canal+, the two satellite television services that broadcast across almost the entirety of anglophone and Francophone Africa. For those outside the continent, CAF streamed the games on their YouTube channel.
Mazembe’s victory, and the $600,000 (£477,000) in winnings they pocket, represents another major step in the growth of the tournament and women’s club football in Africa. The tournament, which sees eight teams emerge from regional qualifiers to play in the finals over two weeks at a single location, has been defined by Asfar and Sundowns’ domination, who thanks to a level of investment not seen elsewhere on the continent, have cleaned up the titles. And while those two sides will continue to be at the forefront of African football, they no longer stand alone at the top.
Mazembe, like many other clubs across the continent, are historical giants of the men’s game but have previously invested next to nothing into the women’s game. But thanks in part to a new CAF ruling that any men’s club participating in continental football must have a women’s side, Mazembe and others have begun investing in women’s sides on a new level. Not only have Mazembe seen the fruits of that labour but the Democratic Republic of the Congo national team are also reaping the benefits, with the Leopards qualifying for their first Wafcon in 12 years thanks to a core of Mazembe players.
With major men’s clubs such as Al Ahly in Egypt, Wydad and Raja in Morocco, Asec Mimosa in Ivory Coast and Tanzanian clubs Simba and Yanga all professionalising their teams there is pressure on CAF to expand the tournament to 12 teams like the Wafcon.
CAF is resistant to the idea largely due to the challenges of hosting the tournament. With travel on the continent so expensive and often inaccessible, a European style season-long tournament is not feasible. On the other hand, few countries are stepping up to host women’s football tournaments. With little money to be made from sponsorship compared to the men’s game, there is extreme reluctance to absorb the inevitable losses of hosting women’s football tournaments, even if there are longer-term profits to be made.
Morocco hosted this edition and will do the same for the 2025 Wafcon in the summer but only after CAF failed to convince any other country to step up. Morocco are keen to continue their investment in the women’s game and help CAF out and have seen the benefits on and off the pitch of investing in the women’s game. Also, by volunteering to host these tournaments, it puts them in a good place with CAF and Fifa, smoothing the way for them to be involved in competitions such as the 2030 men’s World Cup.
At the moment, hosting the Champions League is being used as a trial run for countries hosting the men’s Afcon but that only deals with every other year, and with Morocco also hosting the men’s Afcon next year it looks like the rapidly growing women’s football scene in Africa hinges on the willingness of the north African kingdom to foot the bill again.
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