Carlsberg Cup draw live on MBC
For the first time in the history of Carlsberg Cup, the national draw for the 2016 edition will be live on MBC TV this evening.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) competitions manager Gomezgani Zakazaka said the initiative means clubs that are not based in Blantyre, can follow the proceedings on television.
“The draw will be done at MBC TV’s Kwacha Studios in Blantyre. It will be live on MBC TV from 5pm,” he said.
The draw will attract 32 teams—16 from the TNM Super League while the other 16 are from the three regional leagues.
“The draw will start with the round of 32 whereby top eight Super League teams from last season will be seeded. They will not face each other but will participate in the round. They will be drawn against the remaining 24 teams in the other pot.
“During the draw involving the seeded teams, there will be another draw to determine the home teams in the matches while in the others matches, the home team will be determined by the team drawn first,” Zakazaka said.
The preliminary round of the competition started three weeks ago with 48 regional league teams taking part and will conclude with one match in the Northern Region on Sunday.
The Southern Region had 30 teams and eight teams—Chikwawa United, Cobbe Barracks, Balaka Eagles, Zomba United, Prison United, Blantyre United, Mangochi Police and Be Forward Wanderers Reserves, have qualified.
Central Region had 10 teams and five teams qualified for the national final— Masters Security, Msundwe FC, Warm Heart Bullets, Area 12 Stars and Civo Youth.
In the Northern Region, seven teams registered for the competition and three will represent the region.
Zolozolo FC and Mchengautuwa already made it to the national finals while the last play-offs between Mzuzu United and Mzuzu University (Mzuni) Reserves will be played on Sunday.
Be Forward Wanderers are the defending champions.
They wrestled the championship from archrivals Nyasa Big Bullets after a 2-1 victory in the final played at Civo Stadium.
The Nomads scored first through Victor Nyirenda but Jaffalie Chande equalised before Kondwani Kumwenda scored the winner. Ironically, all the goals scorers are no longer with their teams. Nyirenda joined Blue Eagles while Chande and Kumwenda switched to rival teams.
Team manager Steve Madeira said the Nomads are ready to defend the title.
Bullets acting general secretary Kelvin Moyo said they want the title back.
“Losing it to rivals Be Forward Wanderers was the most painful experience for us as a club,” he said.
