22 Dec 2016

 BTC Premiership champions, Township Rollers, will face Madagascar club, Caisse Nationale de Prevoyance Sociale (CNaPS) Sport in the 2017 CAF Champions League preliminary stage.

The draw conducted in Egypt on Wednesday (December 21) also paired Mascom Top 8 winners Orapa United against Mbabane Swallows of Swaziland in the CAF Confederations Cup.

The preliminaries first-legs for the two competitions would be held on February 10-12, 2017 with second-legs played the following weekend.

Mapalastina would be away to Miarinarivo based CNaPS Sport in the first-leg. CNaPS Sport has won the Madagascar championship four times in a row since 2013.

They have played in the CAF Champions League twice before in 2011 and 2014. Rollers last played in the Champions League in 2015 where they bowed out 3-1 on aggregate to Kaizer Chiefs in the preliminary stage.

The winner of the tie will proceed to the first-round stage against either Coton Sport of Cameroon or Atlabara of South Sudan in March.

In the Confederations Cup, Orapa United would be at home in the first-leg, and should they win the tie, they will face Azam of Tanzania in the first-round.

The Ostriches would be making their debut in continental competitions.

Swallows on one hand played multiple times in CAF interclub competitions, including five times in the Champions League, but never made it past the first round stage. ENDS