Enyimba and Remo Stars, champions of the Nigeria Professional Football League, have been ousted during the preliminary stage of the CAF Champions League.

Consequently, the 2023-2024 season will witness the absence of Nigerian representation in the upper echelons of continental club football.

Despite the advantage of playing their return fixtures at their home grounds, Enyimba and Remo Stars were eliminated from the CAF Champions League by Al-Ahly Benghazi of Libya and Medeama Sports Club of Ghana, respectively.

During their rematch in Aba, Enyimba and Al-Ahly Benghazi played to a goalless draw, failing to overturn the 4-3 deficit from the initial leg.

Although Murphy Ndukwu, Joseph Atule, Chijioke Mbaoma, and George Owen of the NPFL champions came close, the visitors, who triumphed 4-3 on aggregate, proved to be formidable adversaries for the Aba Elephants, advancing to the subsequent round.

In a similar vein, Remo Stars were defeated 3-2 in a penalty shootout after securing a 1-1 aggregate score against Medeama Sports Club in Ikenne. This marked the conclusion of their journey in the CAF Champions League.

Following a 1-0 loss in the first leg against Ghana's Medeama, Coach Daniel Ogunmodede's team scored during the second leg's second half.

Despite hitting the post and finding the net during stoppage time to make it 2-0, a raised offside flag resulted in the game concluding 1-0 in Ikenne.

As a result, the match was ultimately determined by a penalty shootout, where Medeama's goalkeeper Felix Kyei thwarted the spot-kicks from Olamilekan Adebayo, Okon Aniekeme, and Samuel Anaekwe, granting the Ghanaian side a 3-2 victory.

Due to a new CAF regulation that prevents losers of the CAF Champions League preliminary stage from being randomly selected for the Confederations Cup, both Enyimba and Remo Stars are devoid of another opportunity to participate on the continental stage this season.