The 44th edition of the CAHB Men's and Women's African Club Championship will be held in Brazzaville, Congo, from 28 September to 7 October, with 17 teams at the start, nine men’s teams and nine women’s teams.

A new champion will be crowned in the men’s competition, as the previous champions of the last four editions of the competition, Egyptian powerhouse Zamalek SC and Tunisian side Espérance de Tunis have not lined up at the start.

The nine teams have been divided into two groups, one of five teams and the other one of four teams. The group phase will be played in a round-robin format, with four teams from each group progressing to the next phase of the competition, the quarter-finals.

There are seven nations represented in the men’s competition, with Cameroon having two teams – FAP Yaounde and Fondation Andre Nziko Yaounde, as well as hosts Congo – BMC and Petro Sport.

In Group A, Egyptian powerhouse Al-Ahly, five-time champions in the competition, will be the big favourites, and will face the hosts Jeunesse Sportive de Kinshasa from DR Congo, FAP Yaounde from Cameroon, BMC from Congo and JSE Skida from Algeria.

In Group B, the competition will be well-balanced, with four sides aiming to finish as high as possible to improve their chances of progress for the knockout phase of the competition. Red Star from Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon’s Fondation Andre Nziko Yaounde, Petro Sport from Congo and Adjidja from Benin will be the four sides competing in Group B.

In the women’s competition, eight teams from six countries will be competing for the coveted trophy, with the two Angolan powerhouses – Primeiro de Agosto and Petro Luanda – leading the way.

The two sides have alternated wins in the competition over the past two decades, with every one of the last 24 editions of the CAHB Women's African Club Championship secured by one of them. They are also the most decorated in the history of the competition, with Petro Luanda boasting a 19-title tally, while Primeiro have won seven titles.

In Group A, Primeiro de Agosto, the reigning champions, will face Egyptian side Al-Ahly, Cameroon’s Fondation Andre Nziko Yaounde and hosts Congo’s Grain de Sel, while in Group B, Petro Luanda are the favourites against Congo’s DGSP, FAP Yaounde from Cameroon and Bandama from Cote d’Ivoire.