The draw for the round of the 32 in the Nedbank Cup took place today, setting up a few intriguing clashes in the cup games scheduled for next month.
It was an non-seeded draw, that saw all 16 DStv Premiership teams joined by eight teams from the GladAfrica Championship and eight teams from the lower tier SAFA divisions.
Their respective qualifying tournaments were held last month. Eight GladAfrica teams namely Free State Stars, Platinum City Rovers, Richards Bay, Tshakhuma, TS Sporting, AmaTuks, Uthongathi and Venda Football Academy won their qualifiers.
It is a welcome return to the competition to the teams from the ABC Motsepe and SAB leagues, who missed out last season due to the covid-19 pandemic. African All Stars (Gauteng), Black Eagles (North West), Mathaithai FC (Free State), NC Professionals (Northern Cape), Santos (Western Cape), Sinenkani FC (Eastern Cape), Sivutsa FC (Mpumalanga) and Summerfield Dynamos (KZN) are in the last 32.
The current defending champions of the competition are Marumo Gallants, who won the tournament when they were still known as Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila, beating Chippa United in the final.
The drawn fixtures for the Round of 32:
NC Professionals versus Mathaithai FC
Royal AM versus Cape Town City
Venda Football Academy versus African All Stars
Maritzburg United versus SuperSport United
AmaTuks versus Chippa United
Platinum City Rovers versus Sekhukhune United
Stellenbosch versus Baroka
Swallows versus TS Sporting
Tshakhuma versus Golden Arrows
Kaizer Chiefs versus TS Galaxy
Sinenkani FC versus Free State Stars
Richards Bay versus Mamelodi Sundowns
Marumo Gallants versus Santos
Orlando Pirates versus AmaZulu
Uthongathi versus Summerfield Dynamos
Black Eagles versus Sivutsa FC
Five of the fixtures will see all-DStv Premiership clashes, while there are two ties that will be all ‘amateur’ team affairs. There are four fixtures between GladAfrica and SAFA teams, while there are five matches where GladAfrica teams will take on top flight teams.
Finally there is one fixtures between a DStv Premiership side and a team from the lower leagues, as Marumo Gallants take on former PSL winners Santos, who are now plying their trade in the ABC Motsepe Leagues.
The PSL will confirm the fixtures and dates for the matches in due course.
