African Champions League winner to get major cash boost

The winners of the African Champions League will earn $1-million this year - more than double what holders Hearts of Oak of Ghana collected a month ago.

African Football Confederation (CAF) official Dr. Viken Djizmedjian said on Wednesday the premier Pan-African club championship would also feature semifinals for the first time.

And the organizers have taken a leaf from the European Champions League book by relegating the importance of group goal difference when clubs finish level on points.

The head-to-head record between clubs will take preference with the number of points obtained in the two group matches the first criteria followed by goal difference and away goals.

In the unlikely event of the clubs still being equal, the team with the superior goal difference in all group matches will advance, with the greater number of group goals the fifth and final determining factor.

Had the system been in place last year, Sundowns of South Africa would have played Hearts of Oak in the final instead of Esperance, which beat the Pretoria club 3-2 in Tunisia but lost 2-0 away.

Adding a two-leg semifinals round raises to 14 the number of matches that must be played to win a competition first staged 37 years ago and won by Oryx Douala of Cameroon after just two rounds.

The move should heighten interest in the group phase as several clubs have sealed first place with several rounds left, rendering meaningless matches watched by millions on television across Africa.

Runners-up will receive 700,000 dollars and beaten semi-finalists 450,000 each. Teams finishing third in the groups get 275,000 each with 200,000 each for those coming fourth.

Previous bonuses for wins ($10,000 each), draws ($7,000) and goals ($1,000) have been dropped from a competition that kicks off over the weekend of Feb. 16-18 with seven preliminary ties.