The 2012 CAF Confederation Cup (also known as the 2012 Orange CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 9th edition of the CAF Confederation Cup, Africa's secondary club football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

AC Léopards from the Republic of the Congo won their first title, defeating Djoliba from Mali with a 4–3 win on aggregate in the final. They earned the right to play in the 2013 CAF Super Cup.

Association team allocation Theoretically, up to 55 CAF member associations may enter the 2012 CAF Confederation Cup, with the 12 highest ranked associations according to CAF 5-year ranking eligible to enter 2 teams in the competition. For this year's competition, CAF used 2006-10 5-Year ranking. As a result, a maximum of 67 teams could enter the tournament – although this level has never been reached.

Ranking system

CAF calculates points for each entrant association based on their clubs’ performance over the last 5 years in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup, not taking into considering the running year. The criteria for points are the following:

CAF Champions LeagueCAF Confederation CupWinner5 points4 pointsRunner-up4 points3 pointsLosing semi-finalists3 points2 points3rd place in groups2 points1 point4th place in groups1 point1 point

The points are multiplied by a coefficient according to the year as follow: 2010 – 5 2009 – 4 2008 – 3 2007 – 2 2006 – 1

Entrants list Below is the entrants list for the competition. Nations are shown according to their 2006–2010 CAF 5-year ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score indicated. Teams were also seeded using their individual 2007–2011 5-Year team Ranking. The top sixteen sides (shown in bold) received byes to the first qualifying round.

AssociationClubQualifying methodAssociations with two entrants (Ranked 1–12) Tunisia(1st - 97 pts)CS Sfaxien2010–11 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 third placeClub Africain2010–11 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 fourth place Egypt(2nd - 81 pts)ENPPI(one entrant only)2010–11 Egypt Cup winner Congo DR(3rd - 60 pts)Saint Eloi Lupopo2011 Linafoot third placeUS Tshinkunku2011 Coupe du Congo winner Nigeria(4th - 58 pts)Warri Wolves2010–11 Nigeria Premier League third placeHeartland2011 Nigerian FA Cup winner Sudan(5th - 47 pts)Alamal Atbara2011 Sudan Premier League third placeAl-Ahly Shendi2011 Sudan Premier League fourth place Algeria(6th - 45 pts)ES Sétif(one entrant only)2010–11 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 third place Morocco(7th - 27 pts)Wydad AC2010–11 Botola third placeCODM Meknès2011 Coupe du Trône runner-up Mali(8th - 21 pts)AS Real Bamako2010–11 Malian Première Division third placeCercle Olympique de Bamako2011 Malian Cup winner Zimbabwe(9th - 18 pts)Motor Action2011 Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League third placeHwange2011 Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League fourth place Cameroon(11th - 14 pts)Union Douala2010–11 Cameroonian Premier League third placeUnisport Bafang2011 Cameroonian Cup runner-up Ivory Coast(=12th - 13 pts)†Séwé Sports2011 Côte d'Ivoire Premier Division third placeASEC Mimosas2011 Coupe de Côte d'Ivoire de football winnerAssociations with one entrant (Fewer ranking points than the 12th CAF association) Angola(=12th - 13 pts)†Interclube2011 Angola Cup winner Zambia(=12th - 13 pts)†Red Arrows2011 Zambian Premier League runner-up Ghana(15th - 6 pts)Nania2010–11 Ghanaian FA Cup winner Niger(=16th - 5 pts)Sahel SC2011 Niger Cup winner South Africa(=16th - 5 pts)Black Leopards2011 Nedbank Cup runner-up Equatorial Guinea(18th - 1 pt)Atlético Semu2011 Equatoguinean Cup winner BeninDragons2011 Benin Cup winner BotswanaExtension Gunners2011 Botswana FA Challenge Cup winner Burkina FasoÉtoile Filante2011 Coupe du Faso winner BurundiLLB Académic2011 Burundian Cup winner Central African RepublicAS Tempête Mocaf2011 Central African Republic Coupe Nationale winner ChadRenaissance2011 Coupe de Ligue de N'Djaména winner CongoAC Léopards2011 Coupe du Congo winner EthiopiaSaint George SA2010–11 Ethiopian Cup winner GabonAS Mangasport2011 Coupe du Gabon Interclubs winner GambiaGamtel2011 Gambian Cup winner GuineaFC Séquence2011 Guinée Coupe Nationale winner Guinea-BissauADR Desportivo de Mansabá2011 Taça Nacional da Guiné Bissau winner KenyaGor Mahia2011 FKL Cup winner LiberiaInvincible Eleven2011 Liberian Cup winner MadagascarTana Formation2011 Coupe de Madagascar runner-up MozambiqueFerroviário de Maputo2011 Taça de Moçambique winner RwandaKiyovu Sports2010–11 Rwandan Premier League runner-up SenegalCasa Sport2011 Senegal FA Cup winner Sierra LeoneFC Kallon2011 Sierra Leone National Premier League runner-up SwazilandRoyal Leopards2011 Swazi Cup winner TanzaniaSimba2010–11 Tanzanian Premier League runner-up ZanzibarJamhuri2011 Zanzibar Premier League runner-up

Notes Associations that did not enter a team: Libya (seeded 10th with 16 ranking points and entitled to two entrants), Cape Verde, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Namibia, Réunion, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Somalia, Togo, Uganda † According to the formula for calculating the CAF 5-year ranking, Angola, Ivory Coast and Zambia are tied 12th place with 13 ranking points. As stated in local media reports, Ivory Coast have two entrants, while Angola and Zambia have one entrant. Unranked associations have no ranking points and hence are equal 19th.

Moreover, eight losers from the 2012 CAF Champions League second round entered the play-off round: Coton Sport AFAD Djékanou Djoliba Stade Malien Maghreb de Fès Al-Hilal Al-Merreikh Dynamos

Round and draw dates Schedule of dates for 2012 competition.

Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg Qualifying Preliminary round 9 December 2011 (Cairo, Egypt) 17–19 February 2–4 March First round 23–25 March 6–8 April Second round(1st Round of 16) 27–29 April 11–13 May Play-off round(2nd Round of 16) 15 May 2012 (Cairo, Egypt) 29 June–1 July 13–15 July Group stage Matchday 1 3–5 August Matchday 2 17–19 August Matchday 3 31 August–2 September Matchday 4 14–16 September Matchday 5 5–7 October Matchday 6 19–21 October Knock-out stage Semifinals 2–4 November 9–11 November Final 16–18 November 23–25 November

Qualifying rounds

The fixtures for the preliminary, first and second qualifying rounds were announced on 9 December 2011.

Qualification ties were decided over two legs, with aggregate goals used to determine the winner. If the sides were level on aggregate after the second leg, the away goals rule was applied, and if still level, the tie proceeded directly to a penalty shootout (no extra time was played).

Preliminary round

Notes Note 1: FC Séquence advanced to the first round after Nania withdrew. Note 2: Invincible Eleven advanced to the first round after ADR Desportivo de Mansabá withdrew.

First round

Second round

Play-off round In the play-off round, the winners from the second round played against the losers from the 2012 CAF Champions League second round. The winners of the CAF Confederation Cup second round hosted the second leg at home.

The draw for the play-off round and group stage was held on 15 May 2012. For the play-off round draw, two teams were seeded (using their individual 2007–2011 5-Year team Ranking), and for the group stage draw, the winners of the play-off round ties involving them were seeded into Pot 1, and the winners of the remaining ties were seeded into Pot 2. Each group contained one team from Pot 1 and three teams from Pot 2.

Group stage

The matchdays were 3–5 August, 17–19 August, 31 August–2 September, 14–16 September, 5–7 October, and 19–21 October.

Key to colours in group tables Group winners and runners-up advance to the Semifinals

Group A Team Al-Merreikh642083+514 Al-Hilal6321116+511 Interclube612337−45 Al-Ahly Shendi610539−63 AHLHILMERINTAl-Ahly Shendi—1–20–11–2Al-Hilal2–0—1–13–0Al-Merreikh2–03–2—1–0Interclube0–11–10–0—

Group B Team Djoliba641197+213 AC Léopards 623186+29 Wydad AC6132101006 Stade Malien6033610−43 LEODJOSMAWACAC Léopards—3–01–01–1Djoliba1–1—2–12–1Stade Malien1–10–2—3–3Wydad AC3–11–21–1—

Knock-out stage

Bracket

Semifinals

Final

AC Léopards won 4–3 on aggregate.

Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Rudy Ndey AC Léopards 5 Ismaïla Diarra Cercle Olympique de Bamako 5 Edward Sadomba Al-Hilal 5 4 Moco Interclube 4 Abdul Razak Fiston LLB Académic 4 Adane Girma Saint George SA 4 Alou Bagayoko Djoliba 4 Mudather El Tahir Al-Hilal 4 Ahmed El-Basha Al-Merreikh 4 Ezechiel Ndouassel Club Africain 4

See also 2012 CAF Champions League 2013 CAF Super Cup

References

External links CAF Confederation Cup