Players will now be able to feature for more than one club per season in those competitions after the CAF Executive Committee approved the move on Friday.
Previously, if a player turned out for a club in either competition, they were ‘cup-tied’ and could not feature for another team in the same season, even if they moved clubs during one of the two transfer windows.
But now, if a player plays in the group stages of the Champions League for Mamelodi Sundowns, for example, and moves to Orlando Pirates in the January transfer window, he will be able to represent the Buccaneers in the knockout rounds of that competition too.
CAF will also allow clubs to register a maximum of 40 players in one season, but they can change four of them in the final registration period as long as those players have not featured for the team in that campaign.
The moves follow similar regulations introduced by UEFA for the European club competitions this season.
Under its 2026/27 regulations, once the league phase is complete, a club can register up to three new players for the knockout phase, and those players may already have played for another club in the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League earlier in the same season.
CAF made several other announcements following its EXCO meeting, including confirming that the CAF Awards will take place in Lagos, Nigeria, on 7 December.
Nigeria will also host CAF’s Ordinary General Assembly on 21 November.
The CAF Women’s Champions League continental finals will be staged from 1-15 November, though there has been no word on a host country.
Senegal will host the CAF Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations from 28 November to 6 December.