Hani Abu Rida, President of the Egyptian Football Association, revived the hopes of many local clubs to improve their situation in the next season, after the request he submitted to the African Football Confederation.
The Egyptian Football Association announced in an official statement that Hani Abu Rida submitted an official request to CAF, including a request to increase the number of participating clubs in both the African Champions League and the African Confederation Cup, in light of the achievements made by the African national teams in the 2026 World Cup.
Abu Rida demanded that each member association of CAF be granted an additional seat in the African club competitions for the next season, provided that these seats are distributed according to the classification criteria and regulations approved by the Confederation of African Football.
Accordingly, the share of some associations, according to the applicable classification criteria, could rise to 3 clubs in the African Champions League and 3 clubs in the African Confederation Cup, with the additional clubs beginning their participation from the preliminary rounds.
Al Ahly returns to its favorite tournament
Several Egyptian clubs will benefit from the request submitted by Abu Rida to CAF officials, foremost among them Al Ahly, which is scheduled to return to participate in the Confederation Cup for the first time in the last decade.
Al Ahly, which had a difficult season, failed to mitigate the consequences of its failure in the previous season, as the next season will also be affected by the Red Devils' results during the past period, as it failed for the first time to qualify directly for the African Champions League in 23 years.
If the Confederation of African Football approves Hani Abu Rida's proposal, Al Ahly will secure its participation in the next season, alongside Zamalek and Pyramids, in the African Champions League.
The emergence of an Egyptian duo
In addition to Al Ahly, several other local clubs will benefit from Abu Rida's decision, but through the African Confederation Cup, including Al Masry of Port Said, which will secure its continued participation in that tournament.
Al Masry of Port Said failed for the first time in several years to secure its seat in the African Confederation Cup, after finishing fifth in the standings of the championship phase of the league in the previous season.
The implementation of this proposal will end the ongoing debate over the disputed seat between Ceramica Cleopatra and ZED for participation in the African Confederation Cup next season, as the former finished fourth in the league standings, while the latter won the Egyptian Cup runners-up.
The duo Ceramica Cleopatra and ZED will make their first appearance in the African club competitions, should they succeed in qualifying for the Confederation Cup, if the proposal submitted by Hani Abu Rida is implemented.
According to the current system, the African Champions League includes only two teams from Egypt, and the African Confederation Cup includes two other teams.
