Head of Women's football at the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Meskerem Tadesse Goshime, has revealed plans to increase the number of participating teams for the Women's Champions League (WCL).

Since its inception in 2021, the competition has maintained an eight-team format in the first three editions with this year's also expected to keep the same format.

Speaking in a media briefing ahead of the 2024 edition of the tournament which is set to start on Saturday, November 9, Meskerem was probed on the possibility of an expansion.

"Well, I think we've seen that it has a very financial burden. You know, traveling in Africa is not really easy. You have to catch flights, travel sometimes for 24 hour. We want to see how many clubs are engaged right now...We want more member associations engaging in the qualifiers before we can push it forward and say that we need a 12-team or 16-team final," she said.

"But yes, there is a future plan to make sure that it's expanded, especially now that we have the Women's World Cup. We want to make sure that we have strong representation in the World Cup. Once we've determined who is the champion or who's going to the World Cup, we will make sure that those clubs are supported, have friendlies available for them, so that they can strongly represent Africa and the Continent in general.

"As for now, we're really focusing on making sure that we develop this strong brand of Women's Champions League, make it competitive, because when you are eight, you also make sure that the one reaching the final is very strong. So before moving to expansion, we want to make sure that we have more engagement from our Member Associations."

The 2024 CAF Women's Champions League commences on November 9, with the final scheduled for November 23 in Morocco.

Reigning champions Mamelodi Sundowns will be aiming for their third title in four years.

This year's competition will have no Ghanaian representative with Hasaacas Ladies failing to win the WAFU B qualifiers.