Rayon Sports exempted from Confederation Cup first preliminary round

Rayon Sports will not play the first preliminary round of the 2023/24 CAF Confederation Cup thanks to club’s impressive performance in the continental competition in the recent years. The Blues are among twelve teams in this which will begin their Confederation Cup campaign from the second round. Other teams include RS Berkane, Zamalek, USM Algers, Rivers, St. Eloi Lupopo, Club Africain, Diables Noirs, Sagrada Esperaza, Future FC, KCCA and Super Sports. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) explained that the 12 highest ranked clubs in the official clubs ranking shall be exempted of the first preliminary round. CAF had to take into consideration results of 2018 & 2017 to determine the exempted teams. The remaining 40 clubs, CAF says, shall play as of the first preliminary round. Three pots of the non ranked teams have been created according to geographical proximity while the exempted teams are distributed geographically. Rayon reached the quarter finals in the 2018 campaign and this is going to be their fifth appearance in Africa's second biggest club competition. The 2023 Peace Cup winners will face the first round winner in either Al Hilal Benghazi of Libya or Homeboyz of Kenya. The Blues qualified for the Confederation Cup after winning the 2022/23 Rwanda Peace Cup where they beat bitter rivals APR 1-0 in the final at Huye Stadium.