October 1, 2008
A whopping K125million awaits this year’s winners as Barclays Bank announced the continuation of its sponsored Barclays Cup. Last year Zesco United walked away with K90million and will have both eyes on the increment hoping to defend their crown.
But they have an opening fixture to be wary of as they take on local rivals Forest Rangers in the Ndola Derby this Saturday to be played at Nchanga stadium in Chingola. On the same turf, Power Dynamos will look to get the better of Kalulushi Modern Stars as they try to choke up some silver ware for the season.
Green Buffaloes will think they have it easy as they take on Division Two side Kasco Rangers at Nakambala Stadium in Mazabuka, but the Choma outfit might have a little more that sugar prepared for the Buffaloes. Hosts Nakambala Leopards will be ready to show Young Arrows why this was not not happy hunting grounds during their short stay in the top flight as the two go head to head in the other match scheduled for Nakambala stadium.
In Lusaka, Nkoloma stadium hosts two of the hottest teams in the league. Red Arrows face fellow service men in Paramilitary FC looking to breeze past the Division Two side. And Kabwe Warriors take on Riflemen, the team to beat in Division One.
Zanaco begin their title challenge against Zamtel and this game will be interesting to follow as both clubs try to set their management woes behind them at Railway grounds in Kabwe. Lusaka Dynamos have Nchanga Rangers to contend with and will be bouyed by recent results against Copperbelt based side.
Barclays Southern Africa regional managing director Zafar Masud said during this year’s launch at the company’s new head office at Addis Ababa roundabout in Lusaka that the financial institution was committed to offering attractive prizes.
Launched as the country’s richest tournament last year, Barclays lived up to expectations with the runners-up of the second edition expected to get K85 million, representing an upward adjustment of K35 million from last year’s K50 million, while the third place finishers will pocket K30 million an equivalent of last year’s reward.
However, the fourth placed team would not receive any prize money as compared to last year’s K20 million in what the sponsors believe would be an inspiration to the teams to aspire for the title thereby increasing competition.
Masud said the competition proved a big success last year, expressing confidence that a similar organisational feat would be scored in the second edition.
“We are an organisation that pursue community development,” he said.
Barclays Head of Corporate Affairs Augustine Seyuba said a contribution of K100 million had been given to the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ).
Seyuba said Barclays would also recognise individual prizes with the man of the match in the final set to pocket K5 million and a lucrative K10 million prize apiece for the top scorer, coach and referee of the tournament.
FAZ vice-president Emmanuel Munaile, who was accompanied by general secretary George Kasengele, deputy spokesperson Marcha Chilemena, Media Consultant Erick Mwanza and secretariat staff, lauded Barclays for its commitment to develop football.
“One of the aims and objectives of the Football Association of Zambia is to make our league more competitive and stronger so that from that formidable base we can be able to produce quality players,” he said.
Munaile said the Barclays investment and partnership was in line with the FAZ mission to enhance the country’s game through a sustained vision.
FAZ Head of Administration, Julio Chiluba explained that the format of this year’s competition saw the inclusion of nine Super Division teams, four Division One sides – two drawn from the north and south leagues respectively.
The 16 team competition saw the inclusion of three Division Two teams from the three leagues with the qualifying cut-off point set as at Week 15 of the FAZ Premier League.
Chiluba said the first matches would kick-off at 12:30 hours with the second fixtures during double headers starting at 15:00 hours with no extra time but penalties applicable to deadlocks until quarterfinal stage.
50 Comments on "Barclays Cup Back with a Bang!"
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jayda on Wed, 1st Oct 2008 10:10 AM
tis very sad and very elfish that the forth placed team should get npthing after all they have reached an advenced stage and it would be better if the winners got a little less if only for the runners up to get something,
poor poor poor!!!!!
Big Steve from SA on Wed, 1st Oct 2008 11:04 AM
Thats the injection our soccer needs, big business involvment. Once we have big business committing like this, then we will have money in the game thus raising copmpetion and need to improve.
Ba Ole on Wed, 1st Oct 2008 11:06 AM
I have no problem with the fourth team getting nothing. That is what will help make the 3rd and 4th playoff a better game that is usually is in most tournaments with both teams feeling bad that they should have mae it to the final and hence play a drabby game to get over the motions and get done with it.
LUPO on Wed, 1st Oct 2008 11:14 AM
Pumping more money into our local tournaments is one way of improving soccer standards in the country, it is also a way of motivating players.
This will result into a more competitive league in zambia.
Billy SA on Wed, 1st Oct 2008 11:14 AM
Thats good from Barclays. But we also need the corporate world to also invest in sports infrastructure, such as stadia. I know its expensive to build but at least upgrade and maintain them for the sake of the world’s most famous and popular sport. Business houses can reap back through advertisements and other ventures. I remember in the days of ZCCM, having been brought up in Kitwe and Chingola, stadiums were nice and in good shape. I dont know anyway as of now but going by the sight of Konkola stadium, Zambian’s best stadium at the moment, I can say that a lot needs to be done. Other business houses should emulate KCM and Barclays. I gather Mosi cup is also still there. Thats good. You know these players football is their career. They put food on the table through football. They should be rewarded handsomely. I wonder how many players have other jobs apart from being professional players. I know this off topic but we cant run away from such issues. Well I better stop now.
Dinamo on Wed, 1st Oct 2008 11:47 AM
Congrats Barclays for this championship.Our football will only develop through partnerships that will help bring money into the game.On the format of the games, I think its time FAZ considered having preliminary cup games on Wednesdays & maintain the ZPL games on the weekends without disturbances.There are too much breaks in the ZPL & this is what is encouraging clubs to completely forget about reserve teams.Reserve teams bring about commitment &competition amongst players at club level.Coaches can rest key players & use some promising guys from reserves when playing small teams.I never saw Wisdom Chansa playing in the Cup preliminaries when there is a pending big league or continental match.Clubs will only see the need to have reserve teams if they get to be busy week in week out.
Ba Ole on Wed, 1st Oct 2008 12:04 PM
Dinamo mwalasa . . that is a great point. These games during the week are what has led to man Utd unleashing small boys like Rafael da Silva last night or Arsenal field a team with an average age of 19 and winning 6-0 last week.
I disagree with LUPO, pumping money into cup competitions does not make our league competitive. What makes our league competititve is whether funds go round equally. In England big teams agree to share the TV money from Sky and others equally with the smaller teams and now even the small teams like Hull City can fight and most English teams can easily brush aside their opponents from the continent.
What we need is money being invested in the league itself and into clubs so players can stay at clubs and not leave for foreign clubs until they have reached a certain stage unlike now when they just money whenever they make a small mark. Had there been funds in Zambia, Mbesuma would have come back to rekindle his career here.
Vincent Numbwa on Wed, 1st Oct 2008 12:26 PM
Thank you Barclays and Mr Seyuba for your contribution to Zambian football.
While I appreciate also that half a loaf of bread is better than nothing I really wish the Barclays cup would be played at one venue like seven or Ten aside tournaments coz the amount involved is not much looking costs involved in the preparations for these games.
Esther Phiri will be fighting this weekend and has a budget of 800M while we expect football teams( consisting an average of 30 people) to prepare for a turnament with first prize money of 85M. I don`t want to be misunderstood I appreciate the gesture by Barclays and only wish the amounts for prizes would be economically sensible for the participating teams coz we are likely to have some if not most of the teams spending more than the first Prize money on games preparations. Is this the development we want? I rest my case and honestly wish the participating teams the best of luck!
Billy SA on Wed, 1st Oct 2008 12:29 PM
Ba Ole, I agree with you particularly on the last two paragraphs.
Big Steve from SA on Wed, 1st Oct 2008 1:08 PM
Viicent I agree with you but I think we should take it a step at a time. I honestly did not think much of the figure, this is just slightly above Felix Katongo’s monthly salary.
i think we should first get big business to join the party, after which we then begin to get big busness to up the money. Our league is just way to far under the line when it comes to finance but lets work strategically here. Get them in and get them comfortable then work on them giving in more money.
Dinamo on Wed, 1st Oct 2008 1:31 PM
Ba Ole,mwalasa naimwe.Ive liked the points you have raised
Spaks on Wed, 1st Oct 2008 2:14 PM
It only had to be a Dinamo support to give such a good suggestion, this is why i love this forum, at least people here are objective, now lets also play our part by going to watch these matches for those of us in Zambia that is
[stretch.dj] on Wed, 1st Oct 2008 4:35 PM
I read an article today about South African football. The writer complained about the South African attitude of spending money on stadiums whereas they forget the grassroots; hence their poor performance on the international stage. In Zambia we must rethink our priorities. Personally I would be happy with great quality football at Trade Fair Grounds [a very mediocre stadium], than poor quality football at Emirates stadium. Zambia is a poor country. Money would be better spent on talent identification [which we can finance ourselves] rather than begging the Chinese to build us stadia.
We also need to embark on a drive to promote people to support local football. More people at Woodlands and railway grounds etc. means more revenue for the teams, better wages for the players, with the knock-on effect of boosting morale and quality of football. Players will take football seriously and we can finally boast a PROFESSIONAL league in Zambia. The onus is on us as Zambian football fans. Why wait for large corporations or CHinese.
Pabwato!
Ba Ole on Wed, 1st Oct 2008 6:03 PM
Ba Spaks, iyo ni point mudala. People need to be goig to watch these matches in the local stadia so that money gets to our teams and not just paying replica jerseys for the teams we support from England, Italy and other leagues like La Liga.
Ba Ole on Wed, 1st Oct 2008 9:23 PM
Mabbwana, you are right. We can’t concentrate on the nshima if we ignore the state of the pot, the cooking stick and the stove. We need all components to make the soccer tick in Zambia.
[stretch.dj] on Wed, 1st Oct 2008 10:10 PM
Guys, the beauty of the beautiful game is it’s simplicity. A patch of land with lines, a ball, goalposts and nets is generally sufficient. Let’s talk about the quality of the football on the pitch and forget the aesthetics of a ‘modern’ stadium.
My philosophy is simple. Take Nkoloma stadium. Fill it to capacity every weekend, with the open wings paying their K3,000 the grandstands paying their K10,000 [or is it K15,000?]. What you generate is REVENUE. Use this money to maintain the playing surface [which I must admit is quite good, Zamfoot please allow me to upload a photo] and to pay players wages. You have now a sustainable football team. With your grant from ZAF, you should be doing just fine.
Nkoloma is no footballing shrine, but it certainly fulfills the purpose of a third-world club football stadium. New infrastructure or upgrading current stadia would be great, but Mabwanna, where is this money going to come from????? These things are not cheap. Hence my suggestion i.e. as a poor country, we embark on a drive to uplift standards of the game in an economically pragmatic manner that is unique to our situation, viz. filling up stadia and rural talent search.
Zambians, this problem is not only about football, it is endemic in our thinking as a country. We love to condemn and criticise without thinking of the causes of our current situation and suggesting practical solutions. What proactive steps are we taking to better our nation? We like also to compare ourselves to our neighbours. Yes, South Africa has beautiful big stadia with all the modern bells-and-whistles you all cry about. But truth be told they play kak football in front of a handful of spectators. Is that we want? Failing to qualify for AFCON???
ek on Thu, 2nd Oct 2008 8:30 AM
cheer up to seyuba co.
Big Steve from SA on Thu, 2nd Oct 2008 2:20 PM
This is could develop into a healthy debate and made for some very interesting reading. I for one always think there is a way out. it seems we always pin everything on one thing, finance. Cant we find solutions outside this loop. [stretch.dj] has very valid points in that we seek solutions from inside ourselves. For starters the issue of getting people into stadiums is very vital. We cannot talk TV deals when we dont even have a healthy TV system. So lets get practical, were is money going to come from? filling up the stadiums does not require S/sport deals or very good stadia. It requires to build a mind set for people to support there own.
Another very good point was raised in that good infrastructure does not mean good quality soccer. Infrastructure plays only one part in the story and so does finance. We should turn away from thinking that these foreign elemments that have worked in other countries will work for us. Supersport are from outside and have coome in with the best TV deal the ZPL has ever seen. This should be a bonus to our own efforts but needless to say with regards to T.V isues we have no or extremely little effort to show.
It starts with us . lets go out there and support our teams, lets print jerseys with our local boys names on them, lets water the grass at community teams like City ya moto. Believe you me its not only money that gets players running across to SA, its the vibe the energy that comes with the PSL. We need to build ourselves into the solution and not keep looking to FAZ for solutions and also to not pin it all on money. With our heads toggether we can work around resolving without money being the biggest player in the problem. Remember that money is the source _ _ _ _ _
[stretch.dj] on Thu, 2nd Oct 2008 3:30 PM
Reply to Mabwanna:
Mabwanna TV would indeed be a great way for clubs to make money. But you have rightly itemized the limitations of the local game as respects television.
On infrastructure we can only hope that stadia built for 2011 All Africa Games will be handed to the municipalities [as is normally the case after major tournaments] to be used by local clubs. And this will hopefully have a knock-on effect of being attractive for TV broadcast [Supersport etc.]
Granted we live in a television age, however let’s also think how the Arsenals and Manchester Uniteds of this world became great, wealthy clubs before the advent of television. Let’s do our research and come up with solutions.
Big Steve:
Boss I’m also in SA, at Wits University in Joburg. From your suggestions I am seriously considering embarking on a campaign this vacation to promote local football. I am currently talking to my old employer QFM to see if I can get a radio show for November December and January. Very willing to go it alone, but if you coud help with ideas or just moral support it would be much appreciated.
Big Steve from SA on Thu, 2nd Oct 2008 3:54 PM
[stretch.dj], I am humbled by you thinking of me on this campaiign. I am very much on board, just advise on issues like layout or basic plan, but for as long as it involves promoting the local game I am very much on board.
Thanx.
Dinamo on Thu, 2nd Oct 2008 5:15 PM
[Stretch dj],An interesting topic you have started.Finding solutions to our problems the Zambian way is the way to go & like what you have stated with Big Steve, getting people to watch local games should be the starting point.We need to find a way of bringing back the passion the Zambian fans had for local football &through that ,Clubs will begin to raise a bit more money from gate takings,sale of replica jerseys & other items that can be made in club colours.With that, we will begin to see development in infrastructure,better allowances for players ,the general outlook i.e uttire(kit) & the improvement in the quality of play through proper training programmes for coaches.I believe, funds can be raised if only clubs stopped being over dependant on grants from their sponsors & beging to supplement by enganging in enterprising activities & find a way of making money from their fans.Imagie how much money clubs like Nkana with that support base can make if they were to sale replica jerseys @ K 100 000.
Ba Ole on Fri, 3rd Oct 2008 5:01 AM
I need to read all the entries again before I comment intelligently.
chilewe on Sat, 4th Oct 2008 1:03 AM
i feel that more companies need to come to the party with wider sponsorships which should be extended to the lower leagues.further smaller firms can either go it alone or partner with others while enhancing their image.on the other hand,players need to show commitment by giving their all, while as fans we should develop the interest & attitude to support our local teams.administrators should be play their part by being more innovative.