. Lwandamina

By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE and KALUMIANA KALUMIANA –
ZESCO United will face Mbabane Swallows of Swaziland in preliminary round of the 19th edition of the Orange 2015 CAF Champions League.
The draws conducted at the CAF headquarters yesterday saw Power Dynamos pitted against ex-Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah’s Al Khartoum SC in the preliminary round of the CAF Confederation Cup.
Zesco will make trip to the mountain kingdom for the first leg encounter on the weekends of February 13/14/15 before hosting Swallows two weeks later. Zesco will the third Zambian opponents Swallows will be facing after Zanaco in 2013 then Nkana this year.
The winner of this clash will play either Sewe Sport of Ivory Coast or AS Kaloum of Guinea Conakry in the first round in March on the weekends of 13, 14 and 15 with the return fixture set for two weeks later.
Zesco coach George ‘Chicken’ Lwandamina described the draw as fair but that this side will not underrate Swallows because both teams had equal chances of progressing to the next round.
He said side was focused on attaining the target of winning the continental championship.
“It’s a fair draw and Swallows is a good side. Teams go into the competition with 50/50 chances of winning and we are going to do our best to ensure that our target remains attainable,” Lwandamina said.
For Power, the Kitwe side will travel to Sudan for the first leg on February14 before hosting Al Khartoum, who appointed Appiah coach exactly a week ago on a two year deal, on February 28 at Arthur Davies Stadium in Kitwe.
The winner of this tie will play victor of the match involving CF Nounana of Gabon and Polise of Zanzibar in March on the weekends of 13, 14 and 15 with the return fixture set for two weeks later.
The Kitwe sides’ previous outing in continental competition was in 2012 that ended in a first round elimination at the hands of TP Mazembe.
Power coach Tennant Chilumba said he was familiar with Sudan clubs both as a player and while coaching at Zimbabwe club Hwange, who played El Merreikh in the first round of the 2012 Confederation Cup.
“When I was at Hwange we played a Sudanese team in continental. We drew 2-2 and we lost 3-0 away. Half of my team has played for the national team and in continental before so we just have to be focused and prepare well,” Chilumba said.
Meanwhile, CAF has started the process of club licensing that will see clubs taking part in the inter-clubs competition in 2015 needing to fulfill the minimum required criteria at national level.
According to CAF statement, clubs must obtain their licenses prior to their participation in the competitions adding that it is club license is obligatory for the participation in the CAF Inter-Clubs competitions but that the implementation of the system will be gradual.
CAF has also picked members to serve in the three panels of the Club Licensing Committee as approved by its executive committee and have been divided into the sporting criteria instructors, infrastructure criteria instructors and administrative, legal and financial criteria instructors.
Chipolopolo coach Honour Janza will serve on the sporting criteria instructor’s panel that will look at youth and grassroots development while Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) vice president Boniface Mwamelo and general secretary George Kasengele are in the administrative, legal and financial criteria instructor’s panel.