Zambia’s envoys in next season’s Confederation of African Football (CAF) inter-club competitions, Red Arrows and ZESCO United, have been pitted against opponents from neighbors Malawi and Zimbabwe in the preliminary rounds of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup respectively.
Double champions Red Arrows have been drawn against Malawian side Nyasa Big Bullets in the preliminary round of the competition.
Arrows will aim to go past Nyasa Big Bullets to keep alive their ambitions of reaching the group phase, but face a potential uphill challenge in the round preceding the group stage.
Congolese heavyweights and five-time African champions TP Mazembe await the winner between Arrows and Bullets in the second preliminary round of.
Meanwhile, TotalEnergies CAF envoy ZESCO United has been handed a much fairer draw. ZESCO will have to negotiate past Dynamos FC of Zimbabwe in the first preliminary round to potentially battle it out with either Orapa United of Botswana or the islanders Foresters FC of Seychelles in the second preliminary round for a place in the group stage.
The first leg matches of the preliminary rounds of the two competitions are scheduled to take place between August 16 and 18. The return legs will be staged a week later.
