Africa’s Club of the 1st Decade of the 21st Century(2001-2010)

Sports Organization IFFHS based in Germany has sparked yet another debate in

Africa after picking Kumasi Asante Kotoko as Africa’s club of the century in

February . IFFHS this time has released list of top 300 clubs making continent’s

club of the decade.Information from their website reads:

Contrary to the manner in which the top club of each continent was determined

for the 20th century (1901-2000), national competitions were held in all

countries over the entire first decade after the turn of the millennium. All

these national club competitions are taken as much into consideration for the

monthlyClub World Rankings as are the club competitions held by the continental

Confederations and by FIFA. In doing so, each individual result of these

aforementioned competitions is considered from start to finish. Hence, for any

given continent, chances are the same for each club during the first decade

(2001-2010), at least at the international level.

The yearly points scored by clubs in the Club World Ranking are added from 2001

to 2010, yielding the continental club ranking. The first-placed club is that

continent’s top club for the first decade. Adding the yearly points also gives a

far more realistical picture of clubs that were particularly successful over one

or more years than using reciprocal position of the rankings from the yearly

Club World Ranking does. The top clubs can thus be determined the same way for

each of the six football continents.

The Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) counts 55 member countries. After

nine of ten years of the first decade, 230 of the well over 1,000 clubs in

Africa earned more than 150 points. After nine years, the best-placed clubs from

the national leagues, which belong to the lowest group of performance, were

Stade Malien de Bamako (53rd) and Djoliba AC Bamako (63rd) from Mali, Simba SC

Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania: 67th), SC Villa Kampala (Uganda: 84th) and Bullets FC

Blantyre (Malawi: 99th).

After nine years, the African rankings for the first decade are topped by

Al-Ahly Cairo (Egypt) and two Tunisian clubs, Étoile Sportive du Sahel (Sousse)

and Espérance Sportive de Tunis, followed by two West African clubs, ASEC

Mimosas Abidjan (Ivory Coast) and Contonsport FC Garoua (Cameroon). Places 6 and

7 went to two further clubs from North Africa – Zamalek SC Cairo (Egypt) and AS

FAR Rabat (Morocco) – while Africa’s Club of the 20th Century, Asante Kotoko SC

(Kumasi, Ghana) came in 9th. Due to the slight point differences between

consecutively ranked clubs, many changes had to be expected in 2010.

In 2010 Al-Ahly (Cairo) improved its lead over the two Tunisian clubs, which

also switched places. With three months to go till the end of the year, Al-Ahly

is firmly in first place and definitely Africa’s Club of the 1st Decade of the

21st Century. ASEC Mimosas Abidjan (Ivory Coast) and Contonsport FC Garoua

(Cameroon) are very likely to come in 4th resp. 5th, although no further

forecasts can be made due to the slim point differences. The final African club

rankings for the first decade (2001-2010) will be available in January 2011.

Africa’s Club of the 1st Decade of the 21st Century, Al-Ahly Cairo, will be

honoured at the World Football Gala 2011.

1. Al-Ahly Cairo Egypt 1.176,0

2. Espérance Sportive de Tunis Tunisie 1.019,0

3. Etoile Sportive du Sahel Tunisie 991,5

4. ASEC Mimosas Abidjan Côte-d'Ivoire 938,5

5. Cotonsport FC de Garoua Cameroun 880,5

6. Zamalek SC Cairo Egypt 787,5

7. Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie,Tizi Ouzou Algérie 777,5

8. Enyimba International FC Aba Nigeria 770,5

9. AS FAR Rabat Maroc 734,0

10. Asante Kotoko SC Kumasi Ghana 729,5

23. Hearts of Oak SC Accra Ghana 567,5

45. King Faisal Babies Kumasi Ghana 444,5

59. Ashanti Gold SC Obuasi Ghana 390,5

81. Liberty Professionals FC Accra Ghana 315,0

106. Arsenals FC Berekum Ghana 280,0

130. Heart of Lions FC Kpandu Ghana 251,0

130. Real Tamale United Ghana 251,0

149. Hasaacas FC Sekondi Ghana 228,5

212. AccraGreat Olympics Accra Ghana 178,0

287. Bafoakwa Tano FC Sunyani Ghana 137,5