The Confederation of African Football has announced the official schedule for the fourth edition of the Women’s Champions League, which will take place in Casablanca and El Jadida from November 9 to 23.
Taking up more and more space in the continental football calendar, the CAF Women’s Champions League is the most important African women’s football inter-club competition. Its appeal is such that it begins to attract and seduce supporters who, traditionally, were only interested in men’s football. But it must be recognized that the prowess of Moroccan footballers, both with their respective clubs and with the national team, have given particular interest to this discipline.
The 2024 edition of the Women’s Champions League is now in its fourth edition. This tournament is scheduled for November 9 to 23, 2024 in Morocco with the participation of AS FAR which will have the mission of honorably defending the national colors and seeking to win the second title in its history.
Eight clubs participate in the competition: the champion of the host country, the defending champion and the six winning clubs of the qualifying tournaments organized by zone.
These eight teams are divided into two groups of four teams. The top two in each group qualify for the semi-finals.
Two cities will host this major event, namely El Jadida and Casablanca, according to the final program unveiled on Friday by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The opening match will pit TP Mazembe against the South Africans from the University of Western Cape, Saturday November 9 at the El Abdi stadium in El Jadida. The El Abdi stadium will host, later in the evening, the match between AS FAR and the Eagles of the Medina of Senegal. Group B matches will pit defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns against FC Masar of Egypt on Sunday, November 10, while Ethiopian team Commercial Bank of Ethiopia will face Edo Queens of Nigeria, CAF said, noting that the two confrontations will take place at the Stade Larbi Zaouli in Casablanca.
The 16 scheduled confrontations will take place on the two selected sites, with the grand final scheduled for El Jadida on Saturday, November 23, the press release specifies. At home, everything suggests that AS FAR, with an experienced squad, is tipped to be champion of the competition.
After finishing in third place in the Champions League in 2021, AS FAR did better the following edition in 2022 by winning the competition at home after winning in the final against the defending champion Mamelodi Sundowns by the score 4-0 with a hat-trick from Ibtissam Jraidi. This shows the importance of the support of the public who were called to come massively to the pitches to allow the players to lift the Cup on their lawn and in front of their supporters. AS FAR in 2022 becomes the first African and Moroccan team that managed to win the treble with the Throne Cup and the national championship.
As a reminder, AS FAR was promoted to the first division in 2009. The team won its first title in the elite during the 2012/2013 season, beating Wydad in the final with a score of 2 goals to 0.
It has since been crowned several times with the exception of the 2014/2015 season when the club finished runner-up to Laâyoune.
During the 2019-2020 season, marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, the club won all of its matches to win its seventh title and qualified for the first edition of the CAF Champions League. During the UNAF zonal tournament, the Moroccans beat the Algerians of Afak Relizane and the Tunisians of ASBH to qualify for the final phase in Egypt, where the club won the bronze medal.
In the previous edition, AS FAR finished third winning the match for third place against the Ghanaians of Ampem Darkoa by 2 goals to 07.
Morocco
