2017 CONCACAF League
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | August–October 2017 |
| Teams | 16 (from 8 associations) |
The 2017 CONCACAF League (known as the 2017 Scotiabank CONCACAF League for sponsorship purposes) will be the inaugural edition of the CONCACAF League competition. The winners will qualify for the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League.
A total of 16 teams participate in the CONCACAF League:
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 13 CONCACAF League berths for the Central American Football Union (UNCAF) are allocated to the seven UNCAF member associations as follows: three berths for each of Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama and El Salvador, two berths for Nicaragua, and one berth for Belize. All of the leagues of Central America employ a split season with two tournaments in one season, so the following teams qualify:
If a team qualifies through multiple berths, the vacated berth is reallocated to another team from the same association based on aggregate record. If teams from any Central American associations are excluded, they are replaced by teams from other Central American associations, with the associations chosen based on results from previous Champions League tournaments. For this tournament, teams from Guatemala were excluded due to the suspension of their federation by FIFA and were replaced by additional teams from Costa Rica, Honduras, and Panama.
The three CONCACAF League berths for the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) are allocated to the 31 CFU member associations via the CFU Club Championship, a subcontinental tournament open to the clubs of all CFU member associations. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th placed teams qualify. In order for a team to be able to enter the CFU Club Championship, they usually need to finish as the champions or runners-up of their respective association's league in the previous season, but professional teams may also be selected by their associations if they play in the league of another country.
If any Caribbean teams are excluded, they are replaced by the next best teams from the CFU Club Championship.
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