Qualification knock out rounds running from February to May 2001 THE QUALIFICATION OVERVIEW
Group A Aug 10-12, 2001 TP Mazembe - Julius Berger 1:0 Sundowns - Esperance 0:0 Aug 24-26, 2001 Julius Berger - Sundowns 2:0 Esperance - TP Mazembe 2:1 Sep 7-9, 2001 TP Mazembe - Sundowns 0:0 Julius Berger - Esperance 1:1 Sep 21-23, 2001 Sundowns - TP Mazembe 1:0 Esperance - Julius Berger 3:2 Oct 5-7, 2001 Julius Berger - TP Mazembe 1:0 Esperance - Sundowns 0:0 Oct 19-20, 2001 Petro Atletico - ASEC Abidjan 0:1 CR Belouizdad - Al Ahly 0:1   Petro Atletico*  6 10-8 12 Al Ahly*  6 9-7 12 ASEC Abidjan  6 12-5 10 CR Belouizdad  6 2-13 1 *top two qualify for semifinals	Group B Aug 10-12, 2001 CR Belouizdad - ASEC Abidjan 1:1 Petro Atletico - Al Ahly 1:3 Aug 24-26, 2001 ASEC Abidjan - Petro Atletico 1:2 Al Ahly - CR Belouizdad 1:0 Sep 7-9, 2001 CR Belouizdad - Petro Atletico 0:1 ASEC Abidjan - Al Ahly 1:0 Sep 21-23, 2001 Petro Atletico - CR Belouizdad 2:1 Al Ahly - ASEC Abidjan 2:1 Oct 5-7, 2001 ASEC Abidjan - CR Belouizdad 7:0 Al Ahly - Petro Atletico 2:4 Oct 19-20, 2001 Sundowns - Julius Berger 1:0 TP Mazembe - Esperance 3:2   Esperance*  6 8-7 9 Sundowns*  6 2-2 9 Julius Berger  6 6-6 7 TP Mazembe  6 5-6 7 *top two qualify for semifinals
Semifinal Nov 2-4 / Nov 16-18 2001 Mamelodi Sundowns* - Petro Atletico  2:0 + 0:2, pen. 5:4 Al Ahly* - Espérance Tunis  0:0 + 1:1 Final Dec 8 / Dec 21 2001 Mamelodi Sundowns - Al Ahly 1:1 + 0:3 Al Ahly win the 2001 Champions League

The African Champions League 2001 has lost a lot of relevance because of the decision to sell the TV Rights to an encrypted Pay TV station. Hiding the football from the fans to sell it to a few will not do the African cause good in the long term. Neither will sponsors reach anybody nor will African Football reach the light of the world after this decision. What looks like an increase of income in the short term will further increase the gap between European and African Football.
A good example is Espérance Tunis. Although more money is in the African game now, they have lost some of their best players. The only asset Africa can throw against the money is the meaning or the importance of the competitions. But this meaning or importance gets seriously damaged by attaching the supermarket tag and neglecting the cultural aspect. And when it comes about selling and buying: it is the European Football what is the champagne, it is there where the best African players play. If it is only about money now: before people pay for the African Champions League they will rather save their money to see the African stars play for Arsenal &Co. ...