The first edition of the African Football League (AFL) kicked off on Friday with a lively 2-2 quarterfinal first leg draw between Simba of Tanzania and Al Ahly of Egypt in Dar es Salaam.
Moroccan Reda Slim put the visitors ahead in first half stoppage time before a capacity 60 000 crowd that included Fifa president Gianni Infantino and his CAF counterpart, Patrice Motsepe.
Simba scored twice within seven minutes early in the second half thanks to headers from Tanzanian Denis Kibu and Malian Sadio Kanoute.
Simba goalkeeper Ally Salim then failed to grasp a cross on 63 minutes, allowing Mahmoud Kahraba to equalise by pushing the ball into the net.
The clubs meet again on Tuesday in Cairo with record 11-time African champions Ahly favoured to win and face Petro Luanda of Angola or Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa in the semifinals.
The AFL underwent a name change several months ago from CAF Africa Super League amid fears that the original title might be linked with the failed 2021 attempt to form a European Super League.
Initially, a 24-club, 197-match tournament culminating in a single-match final, it was reduced to eight teams with two-leg quarterfinals, semifinals and final due to limited sponsorship.
Prize money has been drastically reduced with the winners set to pocket four million dollars – $7.5 mn less than first planned.
There has also been criticism of the choice of clubs with Chabab Belouizdad of Algeria, quarterfinalists in the past three CAF Champions League seasons, notable absentees.
Simba and Petro have never won an African competition while Enyimba and Mazembe owe their places to past glories rather than current form.
On Saturday, Petro host Sundowns, hoping to repeat a shock 2022 CAF Champions League quarterfinal triumph over the Pretoria outfit.
The other two first legs are scheduled for Sunday with TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo facing Esperance of Tunisia and Enyimba of Nigeria meeting Wydad Casablanca of Morocco.
Return matches are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in a competition that will finish on November 11 with the second leg of the final.