The Confederation of African Football (CAF) decided on Wednesday to modify the format of its two main club competitions (the Champions League and Confederation Cup) from next year.

Adopting a format similar to that of the famed European Champions League, CAF decided to overhaul its competitions, with president Issa Hayatou making the announcement during the 38^th CAF ordinary general assembly held in Mexico on Wednesday.  

The new format will see the group stage start at the last 16 of the Champions League, comprising four groups of four teams each. According to the current format, eight teams are divided into two groups at the last-eight stage.

The teams who advance to the group stage will play in a double round-robin (home and away) system, with the top two in each group reaching the quarter finals.

In the knockout phase, which starts at the quarter finals, two-legged ties will take place including in the final. The same applies to the Confederation Cup.

The clubs who will be eliminated from the Champions League round of 32 will be demoted to the second-tier Confederation Cup, where they will face 16 teams to determine who will reach the group stage.

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