Champion Cup sponsor King Kabvina has hiked sponsorship of the competition from K13 million to K20 million.
This follows the success of the inaugural edition whose final took place on January 7 this year at Champion Stadium in Mponela, Dowa District.
Kabvina said he was inspired with what he saw in the competition, which had teams from all the three regions of the country.
“I introduced the competition as a way of announcing the opening of Champion Stadium. I also wanted to prove to the entire soccer fraternity that there is great talent in our regional teams. All these objectives were fulfilled and everyone enjoyed this competition.
“I also wanted to provide top class entertainment to the people of Mponela and surrounding areas. Efforts were made to have matches at the stadium every weekend and everything worked according to plan. So there is no way I could have just said the cup was a one-off event. I just had to bring it back and increase its sponsorship package,” he said.
Champion Cup General Secretary Pilirani Chibwana said the 2024 edition of the competition will run from April 7 to October 27.
“We will have 16 teams in this competition. They will be placed in groups of four each and will play in a round robin format. Thereafter, two teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-final knockout stage before proceeding to semi-finals, a third place play-off and finals.
“We want premier division, division one and non-league teams in this competition. To be eligible for this competition, the teams must pay registration fees in full. All teams participating in the competition shall use Champion Cup registration cards with well-completed registration forms,” Chibwana said.
He said registration of teams wishing to be part of the competition started yesterday and will run up to March 31.
The winning team will go home with K7.5 million, up from last year’s K3.5 million, while the runner-up will pocket K3.5 million.
K2.5 million will go to the third-placed team with the team finishing fourth receiving K1.5 million.
Mighty Mukuru Wanderers lifted the cup after beating Kalonga Rovers 1-0 in a tightly contested match
