Defending NPFL champions Rivers United.
Nigeria’s representatives in the upcoming 2022/2023 CAF club competitions, have faced favorable but somewhat tricky opponents, following the draws for the first preliminary round of the CAF Champions League and the Confederation Cup, which took place on Tuesday afternoon, at the CAF Secretariat, in Cairo, Egypt.
Reigning champions of the Nigeria Professional Football League, Rivers United of Port Harcourt have been drawn against Watanga FC of Liberia in the first preliminary round of the CAF Champions League.
Warangal FC, was founded in 1997, and they won the Liberian Premier League in 2022 while Rivers won their first ever Premier League in the just ended NPFL season.
Pride of Rivers will host the first leg in the Garden City, and as they are expected to progress from this round, they will face a mountain in the form of reigning African champions Waydad Athletic Club of Casablanca of Morocco, in the second preliminary round, with the overall winner, reserving a place in the group stages.
Former NPFL champions Plateau United will face Gabon’s little-known AS Stade Mandji in the first preliminary round of the CAF Champions League.
The Gabonese made their first appearance in the CAF Champions League in 2010.
If Plateau United manage to negotiate the first preliminary round in September, they will face Esperance Sportive de Tunis of Tunisia for a place in the group stage.
Meanwhile, Kwara United, whose qualification is disputed by at least five NPFL teams, in the quarter-finals of the Federation Cup of Nigeria will face AS Douanes of the Republic of Niger in the first preliminary round of the Cup of Nations. CAF Confederations.
Double winners of the Nigerian Premier League, AS Douanes will pose a formidable threat to Kwara United, who have very little experience in the CAF Champions League before the clashes.
The winner of the home-and-away ties will face Confederation Cup holders RS Berkane of Morocco in the second round.
Elsewhere, surprise NPFL side Remo Stars were drawn against Association des sports des forces armees royales du Maroc, ASFAR, in the first preliminary round of the CAF Confederations Cup.
With five appearances in the Champions League and 6 in the Confederation Cup, ASFAR are a solid team, and Remo Stars who have just parted ways with coach Gbenga Ogunbote, who led them to qualify for the continent, will have to do much more to defeat the Moroccans. .
The winner of the two encounters will face the winner of AAGBS of Guinea and Nouakchott CS of Mauritania, for the right to play in the play-off round for places in the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup.
According to CAF, the first leg of all matches will take place on the weekend of September 9-11 and the return leg from September 16-18; while the second round matches will take place from October 7-9 and October 14-16 respectively.
(Reporting by Chinedum Ohanusi, editing by Daniel Adejo)
