1997 African Cup Winners' Cup

The 1997 African Cup Winners' Cup football club tournament was won by Étoile Sportive du Sahel in two-legged final victory against FAR Rabat. This was the twenty-third season that the tournament took place for the winners of each African country's domestic cup. Forty-one sides entered the competition. Teams from Niger and the Central African Republic were disqualified because their federations were in debt to CAF. Club 'S' Namakia from Madagascar withdrew before the 1st leg of the preliminary round, Maxaquene from Mozambique withdrew before the 1st leg of the first round while Racing Bafoussam from Cameroon was disqualified for not showing up in time for the 1st leg. The last team to withdraw from the competition was Dragons from Zaire before the 1st leg of the second round.

1997 African Cup Winners' Cup

Tournament details
Dates	February – 6 December 1997
Teams	41 (from 1 confederation)
Final positions
Champions	ES Sahel (1st title)
Runners-up	FAR Rabat
Tournament statistics
Matches played	66
Goals scored	173 (2.62 per match)
← 1996 1998 →

Jomo Cosmos replaced Orlando Pirates, who were admitted to the Champions League for being the champions of both the league and cup competitions in South Africa.

Preliminary round

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Bata Bullets	2–2 (a)	Kiyovu Sport	1–0	1–2
Awassa Flour Mill	0–5	Uganda Electricity Board	0–2	0–3
MP Tigers	1–1 (a)	Eleven Men in Flight	1–1	0–0
Lerotholi Polytechnic	2–1	Township Rollers	2–0	0–1
Club S Namakia	w/o	Red Star FC	—	—
Renaissance FC	7–1	Akonangui FC	3–0	4–1
Sigara SC	1–3	Dynamos FC	1–0	0–3
UNB FC	dq^1	unknown	—	—
Étoile Filante	dq^1	Sahel SC	—	—

Notes

¹ Sahel SC and Central African Republic representative club disqualified because their federations were in debt to CAF.

First round

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Merreikh	0–3	El Mansoura SC	0–1	0–2
UNB FC	0–6	Julius Berger	0–3	0–3
Scouts Club	3–4	SS Saint-Louisienne	2–1	1–3
Red Star FC	w/o	CD Maxaquene	—	—
Eleven Men in Flight	0–6	Jomo Cosmos	0–3	0–3
Bata Bullets	0–2	Dynamos FC	0–1	0–1
Mumias Sugar FC	0–2	El Mokawloon	0–0	0–2
Lerotholi Polytechnic	0–6	Nchanga Rangers	0–1	0–5
FAR Rabat	4–2	Real Bamako	4–1	0–1
FC 105 Libreville	2–1	Progresso do Sambizanga	2–0	0–1
Étoile Filante	3–4	ES Sahel	3–0	0–4
ASFAG	0–2	Hearts of Oak	0–0	0–2
US Gorée	2–4	MC Oran	1–0	1–4
Renaissance FC	3–7	AS Dragons	2–1	1–6
Vita Club Mokanda	1–2	SO Armée	0–0	1–2
Uganda Electricity Board	dq^1	RC Bafoussam	—	—

Notes

¹ RC Bafoussam were disqualified for not showing up in time for the 1st leg.

Second round

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Julius Berger	0–2	El Mansoura SC	0–0	0–2
Red Star FC	0–5	SS Saint-Louisienne	0–2	0–3
Dynamos FC	2–3	Jomo Cosmos	2–1	0–2
Nchanga Rangers	2–4	El Mokawloon	2–1	0–3
FC 105 Libreville	2–2 (3–4 p)	FAR Rabat	2–0	0–2
Hearts of Oak	3–6	ES Sahel	2–2	1–4
Umeme FC^1	2–3	MC Oran	2–0	0–3
SO Armée	w/o	AS Dragons	—	—

Notes

¹ Uganda Electricity Board FC changed it name to Umeme FC.

Quarter-finals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
El Mansoura SC	5–2	Jomo Cosmos	3–0	2–2
El Mokawloon	2–4	ES Sahel	2–2	0–2
SS Saint-Louisienne	3–3 (a)	SO Armée	2–0	1–3
FAR Rabat	3–1	MC Oran	2–0	1–1

Semi-finals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
ES Sahel	5–4	El Mansoura SC	3–0	2–4
FAR Rabat	5–2	SS Saint-Louisienne	3–0	2–2

Final

Main article: 1997 African Cup Winners' Cup Final

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
ES Sahel	2–1	FAR Rabat	2–0	0–1

First leg

22 November 1997

ES Sahel	2 – 0	FAR Rabat
Mhedhebi   40' Ben Younes   76' (pen.)

Stade Olympique de Sousse, Sousse

Attendance: 28,000

Second leg

6 December 1997

FAR Rabat	1 – 0	ES Sahel
Chemmami   29'

Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Falla N'Doye (Senegal)

Champions

1997 African Cup Winners' Cup Winners
ES Sahel First title

External links

• Results available on CAF Official Website
• Results available on RSSSF