East End Lions Face Tough CAF Champions League Challenge

August 9, 2025

East End Lions Football Club of Sierra Leone have been drawn in Pot 2 for the 2025/26 CAF Champions League Preliminary Round, setting the stage for what could be a very challenging campaign.

The club is one of 14 unranked teams entering the first stage of the competition, joined by sides from across Africa, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Togo, and Libya.

This draw means the Lions could come up against some of the continent’s biggest football powerhouses. Possible opponents include Tunisian giants Espérance de Tunis, Moroccan heavyweights RS Berkane, and other strong contenders like AS FAR (Morocco), MC Alger (Algeria), JS Kabylie (Algeria), and Stade Malien (Mali). There’s also the chance of facing West African rivals such as Horoya AC (Guinea) or AS Pikine (Senegal).

While the path ahead looks tough, it’s also a huge opportunity for East End Lions to test themselves against some of Africa’s elite clubs. The final matchups will be decided by the draw, but one thing is certain — the team will need to bring their best game if they hope to progress in Africa’s most prestigious club tournament.