The two most glamorous clubs in Ghana, Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko, have missed out on the selected teams to participate in the maiden African Football League.

This is because the two teams have fallen off the rankings in recent years because of their shambolic performances in African inter-club competitions.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced the participating clubs on Tuesday night in an official statement on their website.

The maiden African Football League is set to feature Africa's highest-ranked eight football clubs.

CAF said it selected the best-ranked teams from three regions to compete for the prized winner medals, trophy and money at stake.

These teams have been selected from three African Regional Blocks: North Region, Central-West Region, and South-East Region.

From the North Region, three clubs are participating: Al Ahly from Egypt, Espérance Sportive de Tunis from Tunisia, and Wydad Athletic Club from Morocco.

The Central-West Region will be represented by Nigeria's Enyimba FC and the Democratic Republic of Congo's TP Mazembe.

In the South-East Region, Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa, Angola’s Atlético Petróleos de Luanda, and Simba SC from Tanzania will be participating.

The draw for the Inaugural AFL competition is scheduled to take place in Cairo, Egypt, on September 2, 2023.

The games will be played on a home and away basis. The competition starts straight with knock-out quarter-finals, with no group stage matches to be played. 

This inaugural African Football League will take place over four weeks, kicking off with the Opening Ceremony and the first match on 20 October 2023 in Dar es Salam, Tanzania.

The semi-finals will take place between 29 October and 1 November while the final matches will take place on 5 and 11 November 2023.

CAF said the Inaugural African Football League is a precursor to the fully-fledged African League League which will feature the 24 highest-ranked football clubs on the African Continent and will commence during the 2024/2025 football season.