Caf to announce cup fixtures on Friday

Ajax Cape Town‚ Bidvest Wits‚ Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns should know on Friday who they will play in the opening rounds of African club competitions next season when the draw for the 2016 events is released in Cairo.

Ajax and Wits will compete in the African Confederation Cup while Chiefs and Sundowns are in the more prestigious African Champions League.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) does not hold a traditional draw but rather work out a tennis-style draw which determines the line-ups for the first three rounds.

The reason is to try and keep the match-ups within a close geographical proximity to cut down on travel costs‚ which can be quite prohibitive across the African continent.

Caf officials said on Thursday they would release the draw on Friday‚ but did not give a time.

The first three rounds in the Champions League are held on a two-leg knockout basis to determine the eight surviving clubs who then proceed to the group phase of the competition.

It takes four rounds of knockout matches in the Confederation Cup to determine the eight clubs who go to the group phase.

All clubs must register their players by the end of this month.

They can register between 23 and 25 players at first and add to them in June after the knockout rounds are completed and if they qualify for the group phase.

2016 AFRICAN CLUB COMPETITION

DATES

First round

First legs: February 12-14

Second legs: February 26-28

Second round

First legs: March 11-13

Second legs: March 18-20

Third round

First legs: April 8-10

Second legs: April 19-20

Fourth round (Confederation Cup only)

First legs: May 6-8

Second legs: May 17-18 – Tiso Black Star Group Digital