Tout Puissant Mazembe

Qualified for the next Champion’s League, the most prestigious of the African competitions, TPM will know on Wednesday December 21^st its opponent of the 16^th, in the draw which will take place in Cairo, Headquarter of CAF. For the next season, a new composition will be applied with a group stage to 16 clubs instead of 8 and this from the 8^th and no longer in quarters.

In the Champion’s League, the DRC will be represented by TPM and Vita Club respectively champion and vice champion in title of the DRC. Winner of the DRC Cup, FC Renaissance and the 3^rd of the championship SM Sanga Balende will take part in the CAF Confederation Cup. The four clubs will be fixed on their opponents in the midday of Wednesday, December 21 at the end of the draw.

This is how the 2017 schedule of CAF club competitions was established:

- The first legs of the preliminary round of the C1 and C2 will be held during the weekend of 10, 11 and 12 February 2017. The second legs of this same phase are scheduled to take place between 17, 18 and 19 February of the same year. The CAF Super Cup between Mamelodi Sundowns and TPM will take place over the same weekend;

- For the 16^th round final, the first leg is scheduled in March (10, 11 and 12), while the second leg will place one week later (17, 18 and 19 March). The group stage will start on 12, 13 and 14 May.

The latest CAF reforms endorsed at its 38^th congress last May in Mexico City will be implemented as early as next year. The group stage will have the participation of sixteen clubs instead of eight as usually. At the end of the preliminary round, the qualified teams will join the exempted (including the TPM) in 16^th: first leg (10.11, 12th March) and second legs one week later.

At the end of the matches of the group stage which will run from May 12 to July 9, 2017, the first two winners of each pool will move to the quarter-finals which will open a new phase of direct elimination with rreturn- matches until the final. The quarter-finals (first legs 8, 9, 10 September and second leg matches one week later) followed by the semi-finals (match 29, 30 September and 1 October second leg, two weeks later) will precede the C1 final (first leg 27, 28, 29 October, and the second leg match one week after). As for the final of the C2, the first leg will be organized 17, 18, 19 November, the final second leg will take place one week later.

Prize pool revised upward

In the Champion’s League, the winner will pocket 2,500,000 USD (against 1,500,000 USD until then) and the finalist 1,250,000 USD against 1,000,000 USD. In the Confederation Cup, the winner will now receive 1,250,000 USD against 660,000 USD. Each club qualified for the group stage of the Champion’s League and the Confederation Cup will get 550,000 USD and 250,000 USD.