Silver Strikers stick to 2022 Caf tourney plans
Silver Strikers say they will not rush to take part in the Confederation of African Football (Caf) Confederation Cup after Blue Eagles indicated that they are not ready for the 2020 / 2021 edition.
The Central Bankers were given a chance to represent the country in this year’s continental club second-tier showpiece by virtue of being Airtel Top 8 Champions. This follows Eagles’ withdrawal due to tight budget. Eagles qualified for the continental tournament after winning the Fisd Challenge Cup.
Silver Chief Executive Officer Thokozani Chimbali said the club never planned for this year’s edition.
“We never budgeted for this year’s Caf tournament so we cannot just jump into it without proper planning. The competition requires a lot of money so we have to plan for us to make sure that we represent the country well,” Chimbali said.
Silver last participated in the Confederations Cup in 2018 but exited the preliminary round after 4-3 post-match loss to ASC of Gabon.
This means Nyasa Big Bullets will be the country’s only representative in the Caf competitions as they expressed interest to take part in the Caf Champions League for a third consecutive year.
Bullets chief administrator Albert Chigoga could not give an exact answer yesterday but recently said their participation would depend on the resumption of the game.
Football Association of Malawi (Fam) Compliance and Licensing Manager Casper Jangale said only Bullets have shown serious interest to take part in the competition.
“We wrote all the clubs about the Caf Champions League and Confederations Cup calendar. Eagles were given first choice for Caf but there is nothing from them but we are discussing with Bullets as we are still waiting,” Jangale said.
Bullets last year exited in the preliminary stage after losing 2-1 to Platinum FC of Zimbabwe whereas Masters Security lost 3-0 to Proline FC of Uganda.
Caf recently released new schedule for some of its football tournament in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Registration for the 2020/21 Caf Champions League and Confederations Cup will start on October 21 to November before the second registration period from November 11-30, 2020.
According to the new schedule, the preliminary round of the continental club championship will be played between November 27 and 29 with the return legs slated for December 4 and 6 this year.
The second preliminary round will take place between December 22-23 before the second legs between January 5-6, 2021.
Football analysts have urged Bullets to continue participating in the Caf Champions League.
