Chronicle Editor
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
ZRP Bulawayo will not defend the Trukumb Mining Enterprises sponsored Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Cup which the Zifa Southern Region turned from a top eight tournament to an invitational competition.
The cup competition is sponsored to the tune of $10 000 and is one of two knockout tournaments the Southern Region Division One league has retained together with the John Landa Nkomo Memorial Cup for the top four teams bankrolled by Raj Modi.
ZRP Bulawayo, who won the inaugural competition last season when they beat Bosso 90 3-0, only discovered that they are out of the competition at the tournament launch held at Homestead Conference Centre in Bulawayo yesterday. Instead, Zifa Southern Region said teams participating in the tournament are of “good financial standing” and they were rewarding them for being compliant. The organisers have also selected two Under-20 teams to be drawn from Bulawayo and Matabeleland North provinces. The six Southern Region Division One teams that will compete at the tournament set to start on the weekend of November 11-12 are Bulawayo Chiefs, Talen Vision, Black Boots, Indlovu Iyanyathela, ZPC Hwange and Casmyn.
“After deliberations with the sponsors who highlighted that the importance of this tournament is to give youngsters an opportunity to shine, it was agreed that Bulawayo and Matabeleland North provinces were going to each field an Under-20 select team. Since it’s an invitational tournament, we looked at the teams’ performances in terms of meeting their financial obligations. Thus, we decided to reward teams that had paid their affiliation fees and didn’t owe the office anything,” said Bryton Malandule, Zifa Southern Region board member in charge of finance.
Winners of the tournament will take home $2 400, with the runners-up getting $1 500. Losing semi-finalists will walk away with $700 each, while teams knocked out in the first round will each pocket $300.
The pick of the first round will be the game between ZPC Hwange and league champions Bulawayo Chiefs. Indlovu Iyanyathela will entertain Talen Vision, with Bulawayo Under-20 Select taking on Black Boots and Matabeleland North Select entertaining Casmyn. — @ZililoR
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