The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has conducted the draw of the 2024/25 CAF Champions League draws for the 1st and 2nd Preliminary Rounds.
Reigning StarTimes Uganda Premier League champions, Sports Club Villa have been drawn against Ethiopia Premier League champions Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), in the first preliminary round of the tournament.
According to the draw that took place today afternoon at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, SC Villa will host the first leg of the tie in Kampala, with matches scheduled between August 16th and 18th, 2024.
The return leg will be held in Addis Ababa between August 23rd and 25th, 2024.
If the 17-time champions triumph over their Ethiopian opponents, they will face either last season’s semi-finalists and regional rivals Young Africans of Tanzania or Burundi’s Vital’O in the second preliminary round.
The winner of this second round will progress to the group stages of Africa’s premier club competition.
Only two Ugandan clubs, KCCA and Vipers, have reached the group stages of the continent’s top competition in its current format.
However, Villa, a team with rich history and success reached the finals of the old format competition (African Cup of Champions Clubs) in 1991 and the quarter-finals in 1983.
This year’s draw will feature 59 clubs from 47 African nations. In other notable matches, Rwanda Premier League champions APR FC will take on Azam FC of Tanzania in the first preliminary round.
The winner of this tie will face either JKU SC from Zanzibar or Egypt’s Pyramids FC in the second round.
Meanwhile, FKF Premier League champions Gor Mahia of Kenya are set to face El Merreikh FC Bentiu of South Sudan in their preliminary round match.
