Sugar Boys line up fundraising activities

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter

ZIMBABWE’S Total Caf Confederations Cup representatives Triangle United have lined up a number of fundraising activities beginning tomorrow hoping to raise about US$500 000 to help the club in its African and league campaigns.

Tomorrow’s fundraising dinner will be held at the Triangle Recreational Club and comes hard on the heels of a successful debut in the Confederations Cup where they tore apart visiting Rukinzo of Burundi 5-0 at their adopted venue for the continental event Barbourfields Stadium, following the non-homologation of Gibbo Stadium.

Club president Adelaide Chikunguru, said while they have a main sponsor in the form of Huletts Sugar, the team was largely funded by well-wishers and supporters’ club hence the fundraising initiative.

“We are on a fundraising initiative for the Sugar Boys. Our intention is to raise US$500 000 equivalent this year (since) our team is largely sponsored by the supporters’ club and other well-wishers,” Chikunguru said.

Following their walloping of Rukinzo in the first-leg of the preliminary round, Triangle will be flying out to Burundi next week for the second-leg and then wait for their first round opponents, who will either be Azam of Tanzania or Ethiopia’s Fasil Kenema, who posted a 1-0 win over the Tanzanians last weekend.

The first-leg of the first round has been slated for the weekend of September 13-15, with the return leg set for September 27-29.

After that there will be a play-off to determine who proceeds to the group stages of the tournament. The play-offs will feature the 16 winners of the Confederation Cup first round and the 16 losers of the Caf Champions League first round, whose draw will be conducted on October 9 before the two-legged matches are played on October 27 and November 3 respectively.

The group stage gets underway on November 29 up to the weekend of Match 6-8, 2020.

The Confederations Cup kings will be rewarded with US$1.25 million and losing finalists US$625 000, semi-finalists US$450 000, while reaching the quarter-finals guarantees US$350 000, with fourth-placed teams getting US$275 000.