H

osts FCB Nyasa Bullets and  visiting Ferroviarro de Nampula will clash in a midday kick-off today at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre in the opening match of the International Pre-Season Tournament.

The three-day bonanza, which the TNM Super League champions host during pre-season, has attracted two Mozambican clubs Ferroviarro de Nampula and União Desportiva do Songo as well as local giants Mighty Mukuru Wanderers.

The Nomads will later in the afternoon take on União Desportiva do Songo in the second match at the same venue.

The two Mocambola league sides will then clash at midday tomorrow before the Blantyre derby between Bullets and Wanderers later in the afternoon.

The mini-tournament will conclude on Sunday with fixtures between Ferroviarro de Nampula and Mukuru Wanderers at midday and UD Songo against Bullets later in the afternoon.

Bullets in action against Chicken Inn of Zimbabwe in a previous bonanza

The bonanza will be played on a round-robin format with the team accumulating  more points carrying the day.

FCB Nyasa Bullets chief administration officer Albert Chigoga said all is set for the mini-tournament.

He said: “We are very ready as we stand now. In terms of stepping up preparations for the tournament, everything is in place.

“We started pre-selling tickets two weeks ago. At first it was slow, but it has picked up within the past days. You know, some people like to wait until the last minute to buy tickets.”

Chigoga said football fans should expect three days of high class football action at Kamuzu Stadium.

He said: “They should expect to have a bonanza that has never happened before. We have improved the organisation of the bonanza, having done it twice in the past.”

Meanwhile, all the matches will be live on MBC Television and Radio 2 after the public broadcaster acquired the rights for the event.

MBC public relations and customer affairs manager Chisomo Mwamadi said they are geared to give football fans quality broadcast.

He said: “We want to continue to offer our viewers and listeners a chance not to miss out on this international tournament as we have done before with other competitions including the World Cup more recently.”

FCB Nyasa Bullets last hosted the international pre-season tournament in 2020.

The tournament attracted the hosts, Wanderers, Zimbabwe’s Chicken Inn and UD Songo.

Chicken Inn won the championship after beating Bullets, Wanderers and UD Songo to finish top ith nine points.

The tournament was not held in 2021 and 2022 due to restrictions following public health guidelines to contain further spread of Covid-19 pandemic.

The post Pre-season fest first appeared on The Nation Online.