African football behemoths are limbering up for a vicious battle at the inaugural African Football League (AFL) set for next month.

The maiden edition of the AFL will feature the best eight clubs drawn from all three African regional blocks — the North Region, the Central-West Region, and the South-East Region.

The tournament is the concerted effort of the world football governing body, Fifa and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Tanzanian giants Simba Sports Club will hold forte for the Southeast Region alongside Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa and Angola’s Atlético Petróleos de Luanda.

Egypt's Al Ahly, Tunisia's  Espérance Sportive de Tunis, and Moroccan side Wydad Athletic Club, will hoist the Northern Region flag.

Nigeria’s Enyimba and the DRC’s Tout Puissant Mazembe have been identified to push the Central-West Region's agenda.

The draw for the Inaugural AFL competition will be held in Cairo, Egypt, on Saturday at 1900 hrs, Cairo Time.

The competing sides will lock horns on a home-and-away basis, beginning with the knock-out stage which will precede the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, and the final later in the year.

The first match of the four-week tournament will be played during the opening ceremony on  October 20 in Dar-es-salam, Tanzania.

The organisers have scheduled the semi-finals for October 29 and  November 1 ahead of the finals which will be held on November 5 and 11.

The tournament will set the stage for the fully-fledged 2024/2025 AFL season, which will bring together the 24 highest-ranked football clubs on the continent.  

Football enthusiasts have been advised to follow live streams of the draw and all matches on the AFL website as well as broadcasts that will be aired by CAF’s partners.

They can also keep abreast of the proceedings via the AFL  social media platforms on Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter).