The 2001 African Cup Winners' Cup was the twenty-seventh season of Africa's second oldest club football tournament organised by CAF. South African club Kaizer Chiefs appeared in and won their first African club final, defeating Angolan club Interclube 2-1 on aggregate in the two-legged final. Kaizer Chiefs were also named 2001 African Club of the Year at the conclusion of the African football season. For Kaizer Chiefs the year 2001 included the highs of being crowned African Club of the Year and lifting the African Cup Winners' Cup, but it also included the lows of the Ellis Park Stadium disaster in which 43 South African football fans lost their lives.
Association team allocation
A total of 37 teams from 36 CAF associations qualified for the tournament after winning their respective premier domestic cups. Of the 37 teams that qualified 1 withdrew before fulfilling all of its fixtures in the Preliminary Round, 1 withdrew after fulfilling its Preliminary Round fixtures, 3 withdrew before the start of the First Round and another withdrew before fulfilling all of its fixtures in the First Round;
Chadian club Gazelle had won their first leg tie against Sporting of Cape Verde in the Preliminary Round but failed to arrive in time for the second leg in Praia, Cape Verde. The second leg was rescheduled but Sporting withdrew before a date was set, handing Gazelle a walkover into the First Round.
Burundian club Atlético had secured their progress into the First Round but withdrew from the competition.
Ugandan club Military Police withdrew before their second leg match against Nkana FC in the First Round.
Format
The tournament consisted of five rounds preceding a two-legged final.
Preliminary round - The 10 lowest ranked teams - whose rankings were determined by their association's performances at previous CAF club tournaments - were drawn against each other in 5 matches consisting of two-legs each.
First round - The 5 winners from the preliminary round were then drawn against the remaining 27 clubs, resulting in 16 matches consisting of two-legs each.
Second round - The 16 winners from the first round were then drawn against each other, resulting in 8 matches consisting of two-legs each.
Quarter-finals - The 8 winners from the second round were then drawn against each other, resulting in 4 matches consisting of two-legs each.
Semi-finals - The 4 victorious quarter-finalists were then drawn against each other in 2 semi-finals consisting of two-legs each.
Final - The victorious semi-finalists contested a two-legged final to determine the champion.
The away goals rule was used to determine the victors in the event of a match being tied over the two-legs. If it was not possible to determine a winner using the away goals rule, the tie went to a penalty shootout to determine the winner.
Preliminary round
The first legs were played on 17 & 18 January, and the second legs were played on 4 March 2001.
Matches
First round
The first legs were played from 30 March-8 April, and the second legs were played from 13–19 April 2001.
Matches
Second round
The first legs were played from 11–13 May, and the second legs were played on 26 & 27 May 2001.
Matches
Quarter-finals
The first legs were played on 7 & 9 September, and the second legs were played on 21, 23 & 24 September 2001.
Matches
Semi-finals
The first legs were played on 13 & 14 October, and the second legs were played on 27 & 28 October 2001.
Matches
Final
First leg
Second leg
Kaizer Chiefs won the two-legged final 2-1 on aggregate.
