. Chambeshi
By SHAMAOMA MUSONDA –
THE 2015 Barclays Cup may change its format to include more teams into the championship, making it more attractive and competitive.
At the moment, only eight teams participate in Zambia’s only surviving cup competition.
Speaking at a Press briefing in Lusaka yesterday to kick start programmes for tomorrow’s 2014 final, Barclays Bank Zambia marketing manager, Eric Ngondo and FAZ communications manager, Nkweto Tembwe confirmed that two organisations were in talks about the format.
This year’s Barclays Cup final will be played tomorrow between three-time champions, Zesco United and Nkana at Levy Mwanawasa stadium in Ndola.
Ngondo said the issue of changing the format was ongoing and that at the end of this year’s tournament, Barclays Bank and FAZ would sit down to look at the matter in the continued effort to make it even more appealing.
. Lwandamina
“The format is one of the things we will look at as we review the tournament after it’s all done. We keep looking at ways to make it more attractive and competitive,” Ngondo said.
Currently, the Barclays Cup only has eight teams taking part from the FAZ league structure which has more than 200 clubs.
Top six teams by mid-season in the Premier Division and just the leaders from the Division One North and South leagues are picked for the competition.
Tembwe said FAZ and Barclays were every year looking at ways of adding value to the tournament before revealing that this year, the players were engaged in financial literacy training so they become more financially disciplined.
“It is a way of adding value to the tournament every year. But we all want on a tournament that is more inclusive and we are talking about a new format beginning next year,” he said.
Tembwe also revealed that there was an official from South Africa to look at how the Barclays Cup in Zambia was being organised and see how to better it in comparison to the way Absa Bank runs football in South Africa.
Absa Bank, South Africa’s biggest bank, is owned by Barclay Bank.
