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.

Teams from Niger and the Central African Republic were disqualified because their federations were in debt to CAF.

The last team to withdraw from the competition was Dragons from Zaire before the 1st leg of the second round.

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.