Nigeria's representatives in the upcoming Confederation of African Football (CAF) Inter-club competitions will have mixed feelings after Thursday's draws for the competition.
The draws, conducted on Thursday, will see Nigerian teams face off against teams from the Comoros, Benin, Morocco, and the winner between the representatives of Burkina Faso and Guinea.
Nigerian champions Rangers travel to the Comoros
Nigeria Premier Football League champions, Rangers, received a relatively favourable draw, being pitted against US Zilimadjou of the Comoros in the preliminary stage.
If they manage to get past the Comoros side, they will take on the winner of the St. Louis of Seychelles and Segrada Esperanca of Angola fixture for a place in the group stage of the CAF Champions League.
For Nigeria’s other representative in the CAF Champions League, Remo Stars, it will be an arduous task against ASFAR of Morocco, whom they faced in the 2022 edition.
They held the Moroccans to a 1-1 draw in Casablanca but then lost the return leg 1-0 in Ikenne, crashing out of the competition.
If they can defeat the Moroccan team this time, they will then face the winner of the tie between El-Merreikh of Sudan and Libya’s first representative in the competition.
Tough CAF Inter-club walk for El-Kanemi Warriors
In the Confederation Cup, President Federation Cup winners, El-Kanemi Warriors, will have to contend with Dadje of Benin Republic in the preliminary round.
Moroccan side RS Berkane awaits them if they manage to get past the Beninese side, as they seek to reach the group stage of the competition.
Former CAF Champions League winners, Enyimba, have been drawn a bye and will start their quest in the CAF Confederation Cup against the winner of the preliminary stage fixture between Hafia Football Club of Guinea and the Burkinabe representatives (Rahimo FC or EFO) for a place in the group stage.
Last season, Rivers United were the only team from Nigeria to make it to the group stage of any of CAF’s inter-club competitions, reaching the quarter-final of the CAF Confederation Cup.
