Enyimba suffer humiliating defeat to crash out of African Football League

Enyimba FC have been eliminated from the maiden edition of the African Football League (AFL). 

The 2023 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) champions were defeated 4-0 on aggregate by Wydad Casablanca in the competition’s quarter-final.

Enyimba had lost 1-0 at home to the Morrocan club on Sunday, and the People’s Elephant failed to overturn the result in the return leg at the Stade Mohamed V in Casablanca on Thursday.

Goals from Ayoub El Almoud, Jamal Harkass and Yahia Allah put the game beyond Enyimba even before the halftime break.

The AFL is a new continental competition created by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) with support from FIFA.

Eight clubs were selected to participate in the money-spinning competition. The teams will play in a knockout format consisting of a quarter-final, semi-final and final.

Enyimba’s continental pedigree led to its selection as the sole representative from Nigeria.

The winners of the inaugural AFL will receive a prize of $4 million.

The runner-up will get $2.8 million, the two semi-finalists will each get $1.7 million, and the quarter-finalists will each earn $900,000.

The exit from the competition is the second time Enyimba would fail to pull its weight on the continent this season. The club was earlier eliminated by Al-Ahly Benghazi in the first qualifying round of the CAF Champions League.