Have your say

Ahly are chasing a third consecutive Champions League title

North African club sides have won all the continental competitions in the past two seasons.

They are set to continue to dominate the competitions this season too.

Egyptian side Ahly are chasing a third consecutive and a sixth overall Champions League title when they play Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia in the second leg of the final on Friday.

The final of the continent's other club competition, the Confederation Cup, will be contested by Tunisia's CS Sfaxien and El Merreikh of Sudan.

Why are North African sides so dominant?

What do they have that other sides lack?

And how can the rest of Africa redress the balance?

We will have this debate on Friday, 9 November on Fast Track on the BBC World Service at 1600GMT.

Some of your views will be read on the BBC's African sports programme.

No matter how controversial your views might be, use the form on the right to have your say. Some of your comments are below:

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The North Africa clubs appear to be better organised and business like. Perhaps because they are on the other side of the Mediterranean sea, they are heavily influenced by the European clubs. They also have pretty decent stadiums compared to their sub-Saharan brothers.
Peter DeCoteau, USA

The reason North African clubs are dominating Africa is because they refuse to run after money like the other African players in West, East and South. They stay in their countries and play for their clubs. Nigerian and Cameroonian players would have been dominant in Africa if their players stayed at home, instead they want to be paid higher by going to Europe to play.
Nisco, USA

It's quite simple. The players from North African countries tend not to move abroad and are mostly at domestic clubs. So Al-Ahly has the best Egyptian players, whereas clubs from Nigeria or Ivory Coast rely on second rate players because their best like Drogba, Mikel, Martins and Toure are in Europe.
Ali Elhamamy, London

Talented players in West African teams (big rivals to North Africans) are leaving to Europe year after year. The other club sides in West, East and Southern African have many problems that should be solved before they can compete effectively.
Ahmed Shafik Ghali, Cairo, Egypt

Simply put, better organisation and resources. Also, most talented players stay and play in the domestic leagues as they get paid well. The rest of Africa will be more balanced only when they give more respect to their talents and treat them well instead of selling them so cheaply to big Europeans clubs, who make a fortune later.
Yasser Elwan, Toronto / Canada

It's not about talent. Other African teams are very talented as well, what they lack is internal development, and money to get their leagues off the ground, just as the North Africans do and have.
Ned, Australia

I think the reason for that is well known because as we know every year talented Africa footballers leave for European or for North African and Middle Eastern teams. The North African teams also have more facilities than the other African clubs.
Lamin Sanyang, Egypt

When it comes to club competitions in the continent, the North Africans hold the ace in this area, and one cannot but marvel at their consistency over the past decade. What makes North African clubs good is the availability of good players in their local leagues. Apart from the money being spent by these clubs to attract good managers, you hardly find these leagues exporting players like other African leagues do. The presence of these local players year after year enables the team to bond well. Continuity builds a good team and also produces good results.
Oluwasanya C. Agboola, USA

The North Africans side have good facilities. Most of the North African players don't play abroad. East and West Africa's key players are all over Europe because of the mentality that they can't make it at home. Even the ones who play at home also are not happy because everybody wants to play in Europe.
Okoli Chiedozie, Lagos, Nigeria

They are dominant because they keep their good players for so many years. Accra Hearts of Oak before the year 2000 kept their good players and thus were fearsome and they were able to win the CAF Champions League and later on the Confederation Cup.
Alexander Owusu-Gyimah, Tema, Ghana

They perform well because they train on the mountains and also in the hot sun.
Appia-Otoo Ekow Alex, Ghana

Organisation.This word says it all. When it comes to talent and football artistry, the West Africans hold sway, with Nigeria leading the pack. But their various FAs have hampered the growth of clubs through their ineptitude and maladministration. They have killed the game. Secondly, there is the issue of funding and infrastructure. North African Clubs have been able to attract sponsors thus they are able to attract players from other parts of the continent. The only way to redress the imbalance, is to allow for policies that would enhance development of independent clubs.
Bolaji Phillips, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Availability of resources and a tactical approach are some of the determining factors, I suppose.
L. B. Mawila, Botswana, Gaborone

I think the big problem of the other African countries is that all their good players live to Europe.
Moaty, The Netherlands

I think the problem that other African countries have is the lack of sponsors. If clubs like Enyimba of Aba, Nigeria continued to have the same support they once had from the former governor of Abia state, Orji Uzo Kalu they could have done better. This also applies to other African countries. The North Africans receive a lot of support from different multinationals so one would expect them to do well.
Oladokun Tosin, Lagos, Nigeria

I really think that the main reason behind Ahly's success is their board. They have a very strong board that controls the players even though they are wanted in clubs all over the world. Ahly can compensate those players with the incredible fame and stardom that Ahly players are known to have. If Aboutrika ever thought about running for president, he would win by a landslide.
Mohamed Tosson, Egypt-Cairo

North African sides and their football associations are the most organised in Africa (outside of South Africa). They are able to call on a lot of non-African players and the best players from other parts of the continent. The main thing they have is discipline and organisation and to a certain degree corruption is not as rife as in other African associations. The rest of African associations need to sit up and make their associations completely independent of government and hope for the best, train the coaches more and provide adequate training and playing facilities for the up and coming generations of footballers. Hopefully that will stop the 'people trafficking' of talent to Europe and beyond.
Harvey Frederick, Blackpool, England

The best players hardly go out to play abroad. They are kept together and this goes a long way in team bonding, unity and cohesion.They are well organised and more professional in their set-up. Perhaps proximity to Europe is a great influence.They are consistent. The rest of the continent can redress the imbalance by learning from them.
Oloyede Ayodele, Lagos, Nigeria

It is not because they play exceptionally good football but because they play every final game at home. I think it will be only fair if they can start some of their games at home then finish away (rotational of home advantage).
Cmugobhi, Cromwell

I think North African football clubs are so because the invented the competition or maybe they are just more civilised than all the other African countries or they probably take football more seriously that most.
Reagan Chika, london

North African club sides (not national teams) are so dominant as a result of superior financial and managerial acumen. Other African sides that are endowed financially are often subject to the whims and caprices of their states.The way out of this imbalance is for club sides is to be financially and politically independent.
Opeyemi Ajala Lagos,Nigeria

North Africans have the necessary facilities for the game of football.They invest in the game more than any other African region. Their coaches are also more exposed.
Ifeanyi Okolie, Nigeria

Look at their stadia, facilities, coaching staff, wages are all professional and only second to Europe. Teams like Al Ahly do not sell players to Europe because they have the money to pay well. The corporate world in north Africa supports football. East, West and Southern African teams are poor, unprofessional and lack corporate support. All these makes them exporters of talent to North Africa or Europe.
Tadzorerwa Gwarinda, Zimbabwe

It is simple. The North Africans have a better planned league hence they are able to attract sponsorship while teams from other countries are unable to hold onto their players due to financial constraints.
Emmanuel Ampomah, England

Well isn't it obvious? North Africans countries do well because they have a better pay structure, better stadium and sponsors. So they can afford to keep most of their players. Hence, they can hold onto most of their players for at least 2-5 years until a European club comes calling to take them away, again for better pay! Ninety percent of all other African counties have very poor pay structure, bad stadiums and a lot of them are fighting stupid and pointless wars in vain, so their sporting activities suffer through lack of money. It's all about the money and the infrastructure of that county.
Gino Campbell, London, UK

The North African clubs are the 'Kings of Clubs' in Africa because of their structure and some use foreign coaches. Most of their players are the cream of Africa that haven't got a chance to be in the top leagues of the World. All the North African clubs are financially stable.The other thing is that the veteran players in North Africa play a long time for their clubs and so, the younger players gain experience from most the veterans as they play together. All the clubs should at least have reserve teams and a youth team in order to bring up young talent who will replace the departing players in the clubs.
Abunas Joseph Yoasa, Sudanese in Australia

I believe it is because they have a good economy.
Owusu Anobah Samuel, Ghana