2012 CAF Champions League
The 2012 CAF Champions League (also known as the 2012 Orange CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 48th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 16th edition under the current CAF Champions League format.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 18 February – 17 November 2012 |
| Teams | 51 (from 40 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Al-Ahly (7th title) |
| Runners-up |  Espérance ST |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 113 |
| Goals scored | 282 (2.5 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Emmanuel Clottey(12 goals) |
Al-Ahly from Egypt won a record seventh title, defeating Espérance ST from Tunisia with a 3–2 win on aggregate in the final. They qualified for the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup, and also earned the right to play in the 2013 CAF Super Cup.
Association team allocation
Theoretically, up to 55 CAF member associations may enter the 2012 CAF Champions League, with the 12 highest ranked associations according to CAF 5-year ranking eligible to enter 2 teams in the competition. For this year's competition, CAF used 2006-10 5-Year ranking. As a result, a maximum of 67 teams could enter the tournament – although this level has never been reached.
Ranking system
CAF calculates points for each entrant association based on their clubs’ performance over the last 5 years in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup, not taking into considering the running year. The criteria for points are the following:[1]
| CAF Champions League | CAF Confederation Cup | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | 5 points | 4 points |
| Runner-up | 4 points | 3 points |
| Losing semi-finalists | 3 points | 2 points |
| 3rd place in groups | 2 points | 1 point |
| 4th place in groups | 1 point | 1 point |
The points are multiplied by a coefficient according to the year as follow:
- 2010 – 5
- 2009 – 4
- 2008 – 3
- 2007 – 2
- 2006 – 1
Entrants list
Below is the entrants list for the competition. Nations are shown according to their 2006–2010 CAF 5-year ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score indicated. Teams were also seeded using their individual 2007–2011 5-Year team Ranking. The top thirteen sides (shown in bold) received byes to the first qualifying round.
- Notes
- Associations that did not enter a team: Libya (seeded 10th with 16 ranking points and entitled to two entrants), Botswana, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Namibia, Réunion, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Somalia, Togo
- † According to the formula for calculating the CAF 5-year ranking, Angola, Ivory Coast and Zambia are tied 12th place with 13 ranking points. As stated in local media reports, Ivory Coast have two entrants,[2] while Angola and Zambia have one entrant.[3][4]
- Unranked associations have no ranking points and hence are equal 19th.
- Unranked teams have no rankings points and hence are equal 18th. Club ranking is determined only between teams qualified for the 2012 CAF Champions League.
Round and draw dates
Schedule of dates for 2012 competition.[5]
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying | Preliminary round | 9 December 2011 (Cairo, Egypt) |
17–19 February | 2–4 March |
| First round | 23–25 March | 6–8 April | ||
| Second round | 27–29 April | 11–13 May | ||
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 15 May 2012 (Cairo, Egypt)[6] |
6–8 July | |
| Matchday 2 | 20–22 July | |||
| Matchday 3 | 3–5 August | |||
| Matchday 4 | 17–19 August | |||
| Matchday 5 | 31 August–2 September | |||
| Matchday 6 | 14–16 September | |||
| Knock-out stage | Semifinals | 5–7 October | 19–21 October | |
| Final | 2–4 November | 16–18 November† | ||
† Moved from original date of 9–11 November.[7]
Qualifying rounds
The fixtures for the preliminary, first and second qualifying rounds were announced on 9 December 2011.[8]
Qualification ties were decided over two legs, with aggregate goals used to determine the winner. If the sides were level on aggregate after the second leg, the away goals rule was applied, and if still level, the tie proceeded directly to a penalty shootout (no extra time was played).[9]
Preliminary round
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ASFA Yennenga  |
1–4 |  ASO Chlef |
0–0 | 1–4 |
AS Vita Club  |
6–4 |  Atlético Olympic |
5–0 | 1–4 |
DFC 8ème Arrondissement  |
2–2 (a) |  Astres FC |
1–0 | 1–2 |
Young Africans  |
1–2 | Zamalek |
1–1 | 0–1 |
Missile  |
3–4 |  Africa Sports |
3–2 | 0–2 |
Ports Authority  |
0–1 |  Horoya AC |
0–0 | 0–1 |
Foullah Edifice  |
1–3 | JSM Béjaïa |
0–0 | 1–3 |
| AFAD Djékanou |
2–0 |  Diables Noirs |
1–0 | 1–0 |
Tusker  |
0–1 |  APR |
0–0 | 0–1 |
Coin Nord  |
2–4 |  Ethiopian Coffee |
1–0 | 1–4 |
ASGNN  |
0–1 |  Tonnerre |
0–0 | 0–1 |
Orlando Pirates  |
2–4 |  Recreativo do Libolo |
1–3 | 1–1 |
URA  |
3–0 |  Lesotho Correctional Services |
3–0 | 0–0 |
Mafunzo  |
0–5 |  Liga Muçulmana |
0–2 | 0–3 |
Brikama United  |
1–1 (3–1 p) |  US Ouakam |
0–1 | 1–0 |
CD Elá Nguema  |
0–6 |  Dolphins |
0–3 | 0–3 |
LISCR  |
0–5 | Berekum Chelsea |
0–2 | 0–3 |
Green Mamba  |
2–8 |  FC Platinum |
2–4 | 0–4 |
Japan Actuel's  |
1–8 |  Power Dynamos |
1–5 | 0–3 |
First round
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASO Chlef |
3–2 | AS Vita Club |
0–0 | 3–2 |
| DFC 8ème Arrondissement |
1–8 |  Al-Hilal |
0–3 | 1–5 |
| Zamalek(a) |
2–2 | Africa Sports |
1–0 | 1–2 |
| Horoya AC |
1–4 |  Maghreb de Fès |
1–1 | 0–3 |
| JSM Béjaïa |
1–5 | AFAD Djékanou |
1–2 | 0–3 |
| APR |
2–3 | Étoile du Sahel |
0–0 | 2–3 |
| Ethiopian Coffee |
0–3 | Al-Ahly |
0–0 | 0–3 |
| Tonnerre |
2–5 |  Stade Malien |
0–0 | 2–5 |
| Recreativo do Libolo |
4–4 (a) | Sunshine Stars |
4–1 | 0–3 |
| URA |
w/o1 | Djoliba |
0–2 | — |
| Liga Muçulmana |
2–3 | Dynamos |
2–2 | 0–1 |
| Brikama United |
2–4 | Espérance ST |
1–1 | 1–3 |
| Dolphins |
2–2 (a) | Coton Sport |
2–1 | 0–1 |
| Berekum Chelsea |
5–3 | Raja Casablanca |
5–0 | 0–3 |
| FC Platinum |
2–5 | Al-Merreikh |
2–2 | 0–3 |
| Power Dynamos |
1–7 | TP Mazembe |
1–1 | 0–6 |
- Notes
- Note 1: Djoliba advanced to the second round after being awarded the tie by CAF, as URA did not travel to Mali for the second leg due to the Malian crisis.
Second round
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Hilal |
2–2 (2–4 p) | ASO Chlef |
1–1 | 1–1 |
| Maghreb de Fès |
0–4 | Zamalek |
0–2 | 0–2 |
| Étoile du Sahel |
4–2 | AFAD Djékanou |
4–1 | 0–1 |
| Stade Malien |
2–3 | Al-Ahly |
1–0 | 1–3 |
| Djoliba |
1–2 | Sunshine Stars |
1–1 | 0–1 |
| Espérance ST |
7–1 | Dynamos |
6–0 | 1–1 |
| Berekum Chelsea |
2–1 | Coton Sport |
0–0 | 2–1 |
| TP Mazembe |
3–1 | Al-Merreikh |
2–0 | 1–1 |
The losing teams from the second round advanced to the 2012 CAF Confederation Cup play-off round.[9]
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 15 May 2012.[10] The eight teams were seeded into four pots (using their individual 2007–2011 5-Year team Ranking).[11] Each group contained one team from each pot.[12] The matchdays were 6–8 July, 20–22 July, 3–5 August, 17–19 August, 31 August–2 September, and 14–16 September.[13]
| Key to colours in group tables |
|---|
| Group winners and runners-up advance to the Semifinals |
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | EST | SST | ASO | ESS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ES Tunis |
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 1–0 | 3–2 | ||
| 2 | Sunshine Stars |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0–2 | — | 2–0 | – | ||
| 3 | ASO Chlef |
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | — | |||
| 4 | Étoile du Sahel |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Disqualified[lower-alpha 1] | – | — |
- The match Étoile du Sahel v Espérance ST on Matchday 4 was abandoned due to crowd disturbance. The CAF decided to disqualify Étoile du Sahel as a result and all results obtained previously by Étoile du Sahel within Group A were cancelled.[14]
Knock-out stage
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Sunshine Stars
| 3 | 0 | 3 | |||||||||
| 4 | Al Ahly
| 3 | 1 | 4 | |||||||||
| Al Ahly
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Espérance ST
| 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 3 | TP Mazembe
| 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| 2 | Espérance ST
| 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
Semifinals
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunshine Stars |
3–4 | Al Ahly |
3–3 | 0–1 |
| TP Mazembe |
0–1 | Espérance ST |
0–0 | 0–1 |
Top scorers
References
- "CAF disowns club ranking published by some websites". Cafonline.com. 9 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- "Super division 2011 (10e journée) / Asec-AFAD 1-2 : Les Académiciens en Ligue des Champions" [2011 Super Division (10th day) / Asec-AFAD 1-2: Academicians in the Champions League]. Le Patriote (Abidjan) (in French). 24 November 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- "CAF diminui participação angolana nas afrotaças" [Angolan participation in CAF club competitions decreases]. Agência AngolaPress (in Portuguese). 28 July 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- "Nkwazi Demoted, Arrows Finish Second". Lusaka Times. 6 November 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- "Dates fixed for Inter-clubs Competitions 2012" (PDF). Confédération Africaine de Football. 30 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- "CAF Meetings and Inter-Clubs Competitions draw set for May 15th 2012". Cafonline.com. 7 May 2012.
- "Champions League 2nd leg final date moved". Confédération Africaine de Football. 4 October 2012.
- "Fixtures of the preliminary round - 16th CL 2012" (PDF). Confédération Africaine de Football. 9 December 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- "Regulations of the CAF Champions League" (PDF). Confédération Africaine de Football. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- "CAF interclubs final draw result". Confédération Africaine de Football. 15 May 2012.
- "Orange Champions League and Orange Confederation Cup club ranking" (PDF). Confédération Africaine de Football. 15 May 2012.
- "Orange Champions League Draw procedure" (PDF). Confédération Africaine de Football. 15 May 2012.
- "Orange Champions League fixtures" (PDF). Confédération Africaine de Football. 15 May 2012.
- "Disqualification of Etoile Sportive du Sahel from the 16th Edition of Orange CAF Champions League 2012" (PDF). Confédération Africaine de Football. 26 August 2012.