Confederation of African Football

Confederation of African Football Confédération Africaine de Football الإتحاد الأفريقي لكرة القدم
Abbreviation	CAF
Formation	1957
Type	Sports organization
Headquarters	6 October City, Egypt
Membership	55 member associations
Official languages	English, French and Arabic
Secretary General	Moustafa Fahmy
President	Issa Hayatou
Website	www.cafonline.com

The Confederation of African Football (CAF,  /ˈkæf/; French: Confédération Africaine de Football; Arabic: الإتحاد الأفريقي لكرة القدم‎) is the administrative and controlling body for African association football.

CAF represents the national football associations of Africa, runs continental, national, and club competitions, and controls the prize money, regulations and media rights to those competitions.

CAF is one of the biggest of six continental confederations of FIFA. Although it is just three years younger than the UEFA, CAF still has a long way to go in order to improve the quality of the national and local competitions. CAF has been given 5 slots out of the 32 available since the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, this increased to 6 in 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, to include the hosts. The number of places returned to 5 for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

CAF was founded on 8 February 1957 in Khartoum, Sudan by the Egyptian, Ethiopian, South African and Sudanese FAs, following former discussions between the Egyptian, Somali, South African and Sudanese FAs earlier in 7 June 1956 in Avenida Hotel in Lisbon, Portugal. The headquarters were few months in Khartoum until a fire outbreak in the offices of the Sudanese Football Association when the organization moved near Cairo. Youssef Mohammad was the first General Secretary and Abdel Aziz Abdallah Salem the president. Its administrative center since 2002 is in 6th of October City, near Cairo. It was initially made up of 4 national associations. Currently there are 55 associations, 53 full members beside Zanzibar  and Réunion Island as associates. (see the bottom of this page or List of CAF national football teams).

The current CAF President is Issa Hayatou.

History

Main article: History of CAF

Competitions

Africa Club Union Cup (ACUC):

Continental

The main competition for men's national teams is the African Cup of Nations, started in 1957. In 2009, CAF will be organising another competition for men's national teams, the African Nations Championship composed exclusively of national players playing in the national championship. CAF also runs national competitions at Under-21 and Under-17 levels. For women's national teams, CAF operates the CAF Women's Championship for senior national sides and the CAF Women's Under-20 Championship at under-20 level, since 2008 there is a CAF Women's Under-17 Championship for under-17 sides.

CAF also organizes the UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup with UEFA for youth teams.

In futsal there is the African Futsal Championship.

In Beach soccer there is the CAF Beach Soccer Championship.

Also, CAF is responsible for organisation of the football events during the Pan African Games.

Club

CAF also runs the two main club competitions in Africa: the CAF Champions League was first held in 1964, and was known as the African Cup of Champions Clubs (or just African Cup) until 1997; and the CAF Confederation Cup, for national cup winners and high-placed league teams, was launched by CAF in 2004 as a successor to the African Cup Winners' Cup (begun in 1975). A third competition, the CAF Cup, started in 1992 and was absorbed into the CAF Confederation Cup in 2004.

The CAF Super Cup, which pits the winners of the Champions League against the winners of the CAF Confederation Cup (previously the winners of the Cup Winners' Cup), came into being in 1992.

2010 Togo Expulsion Controversy

CAF has been the subject of widespread media controversy and criticism following a decision to ban Togo from the next two Africa Cup of Nations matches, after Togo briefly withdrew then tried to rejoin the competition following an armed ambush on their bus which wounded and killed several passengers, including players. Togo appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with FIFA president Sepp Blatter stepping in to mediate. The ban was subsequently lifted with immediate effect on 14 May 2010, after a meeting of the CAF Executive Committee.

CAF Members

Confederation of African Football / Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) - 1957

53 Full Members

Algeria - 1964 Botswana - 1976 Cameroon - 1963 Chad - 1964 Congo DR - 1964 Egypt - 1957 Ethiopia - 1957 Ghana - 1958 Kenya - 1968 Libya - 1965 Mali - 1975 Morocco - 1959 Niger - 1964 São Tomé and Príncipe - 1986 Sierra Leone - 1967 Sudan - 1957 Togo - 1964 Zambia - 1964

Angola - 1980 Burkina Faso - 1964 Cape Verde - 2000 Comoros - 2005 Côte d'Ivoire - 1960 Equatorial Guinea - 1986 Gabon - 1967 Guinea - 1963 Lesotho - 1964 Madagascar - 1963 Mauritania - 1968 Mozambique - 1980 Nigeria - 1960 Senegal - 1964 Somalia - 1963 Swaziland - 1978 Tunisia - 1960 Zimbabwe - 1980

Benin - 1969 Burundi - 1972 Central African Republic - 1965 Congo - 1966 Djibouti - 1994 Eritrea - 1998 Gambia - 1966 Guinea-Bissau - 1986 Liberia - 1962 Malawi - 1968 Mauritius - 1963 Namibia - 1992 Rwanda - 1978 Seychelles - 1986 South Africa - 1957 & 1992 Tanzania - 1964 Uganda - 1960

1 Associate Member

Réunion - 1993

Regional Federations

Union of North African Football Federations (UNAF) - 2005 Algeria - 2005 Morocco - 2005 Egypt - 2005 Tunisia - 2005 Libya - 2005 West Africa Football Union (WAFU) - (UFOA in french) - 1975 Benin - 1975 Côte d'Ivoire - 1975 Guinea - 1975 Mali - 1975 Nigeria - 1975 Togo - 1975 Burkina Faso - 1975 Gambia - 1975 Guinea-Bissau - 1975 Mauritania - 1975 Senegal - 1975 Cape Verde - 1975 Ghana - 1975 Liberia - 1975 Niger - 1975 Sierra Leone - 1975 Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) - 1973 Burundi - 1994 Ethiopia - 1973 Somalia - 1973 Uganda - 1973 Djibouti - 1995 Kenya - 1973 Sudan - 1975 Zanzibar - 1973 & 2003 Eritrea - 1994 Rwanda - 1994 Tanzania - 1973 Central African Football Federations' Union (UNIFFAC) - 1978 Cameroon - 1978 Congo Gabon Central African Republic Congo DR São Tomé and Príncipe Chad Equatorial Guinea Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) - 1997 Angola - 1997 Lesotho - 1997 Mauritius - 2000 Seychelles - 2000 Zambia - 1997 Botswana - 1997 Madagascar - 2000 Mozambique - 1997 South Africa - 1997 Zimbabwe - 1997 Comoros - 2007 Malawi - 1997 Namibia - 1997 Swaziland - 1997 Non-regional Members Réunion South Sudan ^ - Excluded from CAF and from 1st African Cup of Nations in 1957 due to Apartheid ^ - Member of UNAF from 2005 to 2009 and from 2011 - Withdrew from UNAF on the 19th of November 2009 but return on 2011 ^ - Non-FIFA member associations holding associate membership of CAF ^ - Non-FIFA and CAF member

African regional federations:   UNAF (North Africa)   WAFU-UFOA (West Africa)   UNIFFAC (Central Africa)   CECAFA (East Africa)   COSAFA (Southern Africa)   UAFA (Arab World)

CAF Regional Zones

CAF Zone 1 - Northern Zone

Algeria

Egypt

Libya

Morocco

Tunisia

CAF Zone 2 - Western Zone A

Cape Verde Mauritania

Gambia Senegal

Guinea Sierra Leone

Guinea-Bissau

Mali

CAF Zone 3 - Western Zone B

Benin Niger

Burkina Faso Nigeria

Côte d'Ivoire Togo

Ghana

Liberia

CAF Zone 4 - Central Zone

Cameroon Equatorial Guinea

Central African Republic Gabon

Chad São Tomé and Príncipe

Congo

Congo DR

CAF Zone 5 - Central Eastern Zone

Burundi Rwanda

Djibouti Somalia

Eritrea Sudan

Ethiopia Tanzania

Kenya Uganda

CAF Zone 6 - Southern Zone

Angola Malawi South Africa

Botswana Mauritius Swaziland

Comoros Mozambique Zambia

Lesotho Namibia Zimbabwe

Madagascar Seychelles

Summer Olympics qualifiers

Men

Nation	1900	1904	1908	1912	1920	1924	1928	1936	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	Total
Egypt					•	QF	4th	•	•	•		•	4th					QF		•					q	11
Morocco													•		QF			•		•		•	•		q	7
Ghana													QF	•	•					3rd	QF		•			6
Nigeria														•			•		•		1st	QF		2nd		6
Tunisia												•							•		•		•			4
Cameroon																		•				1st		QF		3
Zambia																	•		QF							2
Algeria																	QF									1
Côte d'Ivoire																								QF		1
Gabon																									q	1
Guinea														•												1
Mali																							QF			1
South Africa																						•				1
Sudan															•											1
Total	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	2	3	3	3	0	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	3		43

Women

Nation	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	Total
Cameroon					q	1
Nigeria		•	QF	•		3
South Africa					q	1
Total	0	1	1	1	2	5

World Cup Participation and Results

Legend

• 1st – Champion
• 2nd – Runner-up
• 3rd – Third place
• 4th – Fourth place
• QF – Quarterfinals
• R16 – Round of 16 (since 1986: knockout round of 16)
• GS – Group Stage
•  •  — Did not qualify
•     — Did not enter
•     — Withdrew
•     — Banned
•     — Hosts

Men's World Cup Finals

See also: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)

The following CAF members have competed in the following FIFA World Cups. Teams are sorted by number of appearances.

Team	1930	1934	1938	1950	1954	1958	1962	1966	1970	1974	1978	1982	1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	Total	inclusive WC Qual.
Cameroon												GS	•	QF	GS	GS	GS	•	GS		6	8
Morocco							•		GS	•	•	•	R16	•	GS	GS	•	•	•		4	12
Nigeria							•		•	•	•	•	•	•	R16	R16	GS	•	GS		4	12
Tunisia							•		•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	GS	GS	GS	•		4	12
Algeria									•	•	•	GS	GS	•	•	•	•	•	GS		3	11
South Africa															•	GS	GS	•	GS		3	5
Ghana							•		•	•	•		•	•	•	•	•	R16	QF		2	11
Côte d'Ivoire										•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	GS		2	10
Egypt		1R			•					•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•		2	12
Angola													•	•	•	•	•	GS	•		1	7
Congo DR										GSa	•	•		•	•	•	•	•	•		1	9
Senegal									•	•	•	•	•		•	•	QF	•	•		1	10
Togo										•	•	•			•	•	•	GS	•		1	8
Total	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	5	5	5	6		34

a As Zaire.

• Firsts
  • First African team to qualify for the World Cup: Egypt (1934)
  • First African team to win a match in the World Cup: Tunisia (1978)
  • First African team to reach the knockout stage: Morocco (1986)
  • First African team to reach the quarter-final: Cameroon (1990)

Women's World Cup Finals

The following CAF members have competed in the following FIFA Women's World Cups. Teams are sorted by number of appearances.

Team	1991	1995	1999	2003	2007	2011	2015	Total
Nigeria	GS	GS	QF	GS	GS	GS		6
Ghana			GS	GS	GS			3
Equatorial Guinea						GS		1
Total	1	1	2	2	2	2		10

• q – Qualified for the 2015 Women's World Cup

Rankings

Men's National Teams

Rankings are calculated by FIFA.

CAF	FIFA	Country	Points	+/−
1	16	Côte d'Ivoire	912
2	29	Ghana	761
3	30	Algeria	758
4	31	Egypt	755
5	43	Nigeria	627
6	44	Senegal	625
7	50	Cameroon	588
8	52	South Africa	577
9	58	Cape Verde	549
10	59	Tunisia	537
11	60	Sierra Leone	526
12	61	Morocco	524
13	62	Burkina Faso	518
14	63	Libya	514
15	67	Mali	472
16	77	Gabon	445
17	79	Zambia	439
18	80	Guinea	436
19	83	Angola	412
20	89	Uganda	398
21	94	Malawi	374
22	95	Botswana	371
23	97	Niger	361
24	98	Zimbabwe	354
25	101	Togo	350
26	105	Mozambique	322
27	106	Rwanda	314
28	116	Sudan	285
29	118	Gambia	280
30	120	Kenya	269

Last updated December, 21, 2011

Women's National Teams

Rankings are calculated by FIFA based on matches played over the last four years.

CAF	FIFA	Country	Points	+/−
1	27	Nigeria	1686
2	50	Ghana	1457
3	56	Equatorial Guinea	1431
4	61	Cameroon	1404
5	66	South Africa	1366
6	72	Morocco	1340
7	78	Tunisia	1323
8	79	Algeria	1320
9	82	Egypt	1304
10	95	Mali	1215
11	103	Zimbabwe	1180
12	108	Ethiopia	1136
13	109	Angola	1134
14	111	Congo DR	1113
15	118	Guinea	1073
16	121	Namibia	1051
17	125	Zambia	952
18	130	Tanzania	915
19	133	Mozambique	875
20	134	Malawi	833

Last updated December 23, 2011

CAF overall ranking of African Clubs titles

The following clubs are the top 10 clubs in CAF competitions.

Pos	Club	Titles	Trophies won
1	Al-Ahly SC	14	6 African Cup of Champions Clubs-CAF Champions Leagues; 4 CAF Cup Winners' Cups; 4 CAF Super Cups
2	Zamalek SC	9	5 African Cup of Champions Clubs-CAF Champions Leagues; 1 CAF Cup Winners' Cup; 3 CAF Super Cups
3	ES Sahel	8	1 CAF Champions League; 2 CAF Cup Winners' Cups; 2 CAF Cups; 1 CAF Confederation Cup; 2 CAF Super Cups
4	TP Mazembe	7	4 African Cup of Champions Clubs-CAF Champions Leagues; 1 CAF Cup Winners' Cup; 2 CAF Super Cups
5	JS Kabylie	6	2 African Cup of Champions Clubs; 1 CAF Cup Winners' Cup; 3 CAF Cups
6	ES Tunis	5	2 African Cup of Champions Clubs; 1 CAF Cup Winners' Cup; 1 CAF Cup; 1 CAF Super Cup
	Raja CA Casablanca	5	3 African Cup of Champions Clubs-CAF Champions Leagues; 1 CAF Cup; 1 CAF Super Cup
8	Canon Yaoundé	4	3 African Cup of Champions Clubs; 1 CAF Cup Winners' Cup
	Enyimba International FC	4	2 CAF Champions Leagues; 2 CAF Super Cups

Update as of 5 February 2011 in chronological order.

Top 20 African Clubs

Rankings are calculated by the IFFHS based on matches played over the last year till the date of release.

CAF	IFFHS	Club	Points
1	81	Al-Ahly SC	126.5
2	84	ES Sétif	125.5
3	86	Heartland FC	124.0
4	88	Al-Hilal Club	123.5
5	113	Zamalek SC	111.0
6	131	JS Kabylie	103.0
7	138	Al-Merreikh SC	101.0
8	139	Haras El-Hodood Club	100.5
9	149	Ismaily SC	97.5
10	150	Espérance ST	96.0
11	184	Stade Malien	89.5
12	189	Al-Ittihad Club	88.5
13	196	CD Primeiro de Agosto	86.5
14	179	Supersport United FC	88.0
15	237	Atlético Petróleos Luanda	80.5
16	246	Petrojet FC	79.5
17	248	Kano Pillars FC	78.5
18	272	AS Vita Club	75.7
19	283	ENPPI Club	73.0
20	345	CR Belouizdad	65.5

Last updated July 30, 2008

CAF overall ranking of African Clubs

Rankings are calculated by the CAF based on points gathered by African teams throughout their participation in international club tournaments organized by either the FIFA or the CAF since the establishment of the first African Cup of Champions Clubs in 1964.

CAF	Club	Points
1	Al-Ahly SC	74.0
2	Zamalek SC	60.0
3	ES Sahel	50.0
4	ES Tunis	47.0
5	Asante Kotoko FC	44.0
6	ASEC Mimosas	42.0
7	Canon Yaoundé	36.0
8	JS Kabylie	35.0
9	Accra Hearts of Oak SC	31.0
10	Africa Sports	30.0

CAF Best Footballers of the Century

The voting to select the best of the century refers to three categories: male player, goalkeeper and female player, and is obtained from five different steps. The resulting best players and goalkeepers were honored during the "World Football Gala 1999". Voting process as explained by the IFFHS.

CAF Best Player of the Century

Player Name	Points
George Weah	95
Roger Milla	77
Abédi Pelé	72
Lakhdar Belloumi	56
Rabah Madjer	51
Théophile Abega	39
Laurent Pokou	38
Kalusha Bwalya	37
Ahmed Faras	35
Finidi George	32

CAF Best Goalkeeper of the Century

Player Name	Points
Joseph-Antoine Bell	39
Thomas Nkono	30
Sadok Sassi "Attouga"	26
Badou Zaki	24
Mwamba Kazadi	19
Jacques Songo'o	13
Bruce Grobbelaar	11
Ahmed Shobair	10
Alain Gouaméné	9
Peter Rufai	6

CAF Best Women's Footballer of the Century

Player Name	Points
Uche Eucharia Ngozi	21
Rita Nwadike	18
Doris Nkiru Okosieme	17
Florence Omagbemi	15
Ann Chiojirie	14
Nana Ama Gyamfuah	13
Fikhile Sitole	9
Vivian Mensah	8
Mercy Akide	7
Ann Agumanu

CAF Golden Jubilee Best Players Poll

In 2007 CAF published the list of top 30 African players who played in the period from 1957 to 2007, as part of the celebration of CAF's 50th anniversary, ordered according to an online poll.

01. Roger Milla 02. Mahmoud El Khatib 03. Hossam Hassan 04. Samuel Eto'o 05. Abedi Pele 06. George Weah 07. Didier Drogba 08. Nwankwo Kanu 09. Rabah Madjer 10. Kalusha Bwalya

11. Michael Essien 12. Augustine Okocha 13. Saleh Selim 14. Hacène Lalmas 15. Benni McCarthy 16. El Hadji Diouf 17. Noureddine Naybet 18. Rashidi Yekini 19. Hany Ramzy 20. Hassan Shehata

21. Lucas Radebe 22. Tarak Dhiab 23. Mohammed Timoumi 24. Anthony Yeboah 25. Salif Keita 26. Karim Abdul Razak 27. Samuel Kuffour 28. Lakhdar Belloumi 29. Rigobert Song 30. Nasr Abas El Din

CAF's Anthem

On September 18, 2007 the CAF launched a competition for all African composers to create its Anthem. The CAF anthem is a musical composition, without lyrics, which and reflect the cultural patrimony and African music. The duration of the anthem is 74 seconds. The chosen anthem was first published to the site on January 16, 2008. The usage of the anthem and yet it's composer are still unknown.

Announced September 18, 2007

See also

CAF competitions

Clubs: CAF Champions League CAF Confederation Cup CAF Super Cup CAF Cup (1992–2003) African Cup Winners' Cup (1975–2003)

National: Africa Cup of Nations CAF U-23 Championship African U-20 Championship African U-17 Championship African Championship of Nations African Women's Championship African U-20 Cup of Nations for Women African U-17 Cup of Nations for Women

Inter Continental: UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup Afro-Asian Cup of Nations Arab Nations Cup Afro-Asian Club Championship

Regional: CECAFA Cup WAFU Nations Cup Amilcar Cabral Cup COSAFA Cup CEMAC Cup UNIFFAC Cup (U-17)

CAF resolutions

Awards: CAF Awards African Footballer of the Year CAF Clubs of the 20th Century

Qualifications: CAF 5-Year Ranking

Related articles

• History of CAF
• List of presidents of CAF
• List of first international of African national teams
• IFFHS Africa's best clubs of the 20th century

External links

• Confederation Of African Football official CAF site
• Confederation of African Football, Soccerlens.com. Retrieved: 09/10/2010.
• CAF video highlights
• The history of the Confederation Of African Football
• Listen to CAF Anthem CAF Anthem