By NDINAWE SIMPELWE –
THE Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has finally released the 2019 Super Division fixtures for the transitional season which has been divided into two streams of 10 teams each.
This coming after weeks of complaints from clubs over the unavailability of fixtures for this season which is expected to run only up to June with this release coming just nine days before the season kicks-off.
But there still remains a veil over fixtures for lower tier league like Division-One and on whether they would run the full 30 weeks or they would also play just half the season.
In the fixtures availed yesterday, champions Zesco United would be Stream-A together with Zanaco, Green Buffaloes, Red Arrows, Lusaka Dynamos, Kabwe Warriors, Kitwe United, Nakambala Leopards and the two promotion sides in Mufulira Wanderers and Prison Leopards.
Stream-B will comprise Nkana, Power Dynamos, Eagles, Forest, Buildcon, Lumwana Radiants, Napsa Stars, Nkwazi with Circuit City and MUZA joining them from Division-One.
The winner from each stream will face off to pick the ultimate league champion while the second placed sides from either stream will also play against each to pick the third and fourth side.
After weeks of uncertainty and speculation FAZ yesterday released the fixtures signalling the association was ready to kick-start the transitional season which would be preceded by the Charity Shield final between Zesco United and Nkana at Arthur Davis stadium.
The league which will kick off on January 27 will run up to May 25 before the play-offs are held to determine the top four teams to represent the country in the CAF inter-club championships.
FAZ agreed to play a transitional season in order to realign the league with the European calendar to run from August to May the following year.
Zesco and Nkana will miss their opening fixtures against Green Buffaloes and Lumwana Radiants respectively as they will be in action a day earlier in Charity Shield final.
But some fixtures to look out for on the opening day will see Zanaco hosting Red Arrows while Kabwe Warriors would host Lusaka Dynamos in Stream-A while Stream B will see Green Eagles visiting Forest Rangers.