Civo, Reds miss out in Standard Bank tourney
Civo United and Red Lions were the notable teams that failed to sneak into the Standard Bank Knockout Cup when four teams that will take part in the preliminary round were announced on Friday evening.
Super League rookies Airborne Rangers were the surprise team out of the four teams that were announced by the bank’s chief executive officer Andrew Mashanda during a draw held at @tmosphere Bar and Grill in Mandala, Blantyre. The others were Big Bullets, Azam Tigers and Epac FC.
Civo and Reds failed to amass more votes cast in the bank’s branches across the country.
“Our customers have spoken and the four teams that will be entering the tournament through the preliminaries are Azam Tigers, Airborne Rangers, Big Bullets and Epac FC,” said Mashanda.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu hailed Standard Bank for its continued sponsorship.
“You have been with us for eight years now and you have held our hands in our worst times,” said Nyamilandu who described the tournament as lucrative and unique.
In the preliminary round, Tigers were drawn against Epac while Airborne will host Bullets to determine the two teams that will join six teams that earned automatic qualification and these were Silver Strikers, Moyale, Mafco, Kamuzu Barracks, Blue Eagles and defending champions Mighty Wanderers.
The Nomads will start their defence campaign against Moyale, last year’s runners-up, Silver Strikers will face Blue Eagles, while the winner in the match between Airborne and Bullets will face Mafco and the winner between Tigers and Epac will face Kamuzu Barracks.
Unlike the past two years, there are no chances of a third final meeting between Wanderers and Silver who could meet in the semis should they win their quarter-final matches.
