2017–18 CONCACAF Champions League
| 2017–18 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Dates |
CONCACAF League: August – October 2017 Champions League: February – May 2018 |
| Teams | Total: 31 (from maximum of 13 associations) |
The 2017–18 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2017–18 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) will be the 10th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 53rd edition of the premier football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Starting from this season, the tournament will be expanded to 31 teams and held in two phases, both of home-and-away single-elimination format:
The winners of the 2017–18 CONCACAF Champions League will qualify as the CONCACAF representative at the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. Pachuca are the title holders, but did not qualify for this tournament and will not be able to defend their title.
In December 2016, Manuel Quintanilla, president of the Nicaraguan Football Federation, spoke of a possible new format for the competition, a statement that was later corroborated by Garth Lagerwey, the general manager of Seattle Sounders FC. On 23 January 2017, CONCACAF confirmed the new format, eliminating the group stage which had been employed since the re-branding of the competition to the CONCACAF Champions League in 2008.
A total of 31 teams participate in the CONCACAF Champions League:
Therefore, a maximum of 13 out of the 41 CONCACAF member associations may participate in the tournament.
Clubs may be disqualified and replaced by a club from another association if the club does not have an available stadium that meets CONCACAF regulations for safety. If a club's own stadium fails to meet the set standards then it may find a suitable replacement stadium within its own country. However, if it is still determined that the club cannot provide the adequate facilities then it runs the risk of being replaced.
The nine CONCACAF Champions League berths are allocated to the three North American Football Union (NAFU) member associations as follows: four berths for each of Mexico and the United States, and one berth for Canada. All nine teams enter the second phase.
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