The title-chasing pack of Tusker, AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia have been handed a reprieve by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) who extended their interclub competitions team registration deadline to August.CAF had initially issued a circular requiring all federations in the continent to submit teams that would represent the country in the Champions League by June 30th. The African football governing body on Tuesday 22 June revealed the new dates of the interclub continental competitions among a handful of changes.“The 2021/22 season will kick-off on 10 September 2021 with the first round of the Preliminaries,”“The registration of players on the CAF CMS has been extended to 15 August 2021,” read the CAF statement in part. ⚽️ CAF has released the 2021/22 interclub season schedule including the information relating to the list of countries who will be allowed to enter two clubs in the 2021/22 season. #CAF #CAFOnline #football #StaySafeAfricahttps://t.co/mN4agHeMfl— CAF Media (@CAF_Media) June 22, 2021 The deadline extension means that Tusker, AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia have been handed more time to whittle down KCB’s lead at the summit of the league. Among the changes ahead of the 2021-2022 season include, the 12 highest-ranked national associations, according to the ranking of CAF, will be allowed to engage two clubs in the Champions League and Confederation Cup.Another change also sees CAF extended the five substitutions per rule for the 2021/22 Interclubs season. Each club will be allowed to register 40 players instead of the regulatory 30. Nine substitutes will be allowed on the bench instead of the regular seven.The countries include neighbours Tanzania who had giants Simba booking a quarterfinal ticket for the second time in three seasons, Algeria, Angola, RD Congo, Egypt, Guinea, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia and Zambia.CAF Interclub Schedule: 2021/2022- First Preliminary Round (1st Leg/2nd Leg) 10-12 September / 17-19 September 2021 – Second Preliminary Round (1st Leg/2nd Leg) 15-17 October / 22-24 October 2021 Confederation Cup Additional – Second Preliminary Round (1st Leg/2nd Leg) 26-28 November, 3-5 December 2021 – Group stage MD1: 11-13 February 2022- Group stage MD2: 18-20 February 2022- Group stage MD3: 25-27 February 2022- Group stage MD4: 11-13 March 2022- Group stage MD5: 18-20 March 2022- Group stage MD6: 1-3 April 2022 – Quarter-Finals (1st Leg/2nd Leg) 15-17 April 2022/22-24 April 2022 – Semi-Finals (1st Leg/2nd Leg) 6-8 May 2022/13-15 May 2022 – Finals: TBC from 22 to 29 May 2022
