TP Mazembe fans are concerned that the club’s current FIFA transfer ban will affect the team when they meet Zambian Champions Red Arrows in the first round of the Champions League.
Arrows set up a meeting with Mazembe after seeing off Malawi’s Nyasa Big Bullets 3-2 on aggregate in the preliminary round of the Champions League.
The two teams will face off in the pre-group stage. The winner over two legs will make it to the lucrative group stages of the Champions League.
Ordinarily, Mazembe is a force in African football but has over the years lost some steam, and the fans are worried about their prospects more so that they are serving a transfer ban.
Earlier this year, Mazembe was listed among 23 clubs handed transfer bans, effective June 12, 2024. The ban, which spans three registration periods, came as a consequence of contractual breaches involving Mazembe and some of its players.
However, the club has been busy preparing for Arrows. They recently subtly announced Chipolopolo legend Rainford Kalaba as a new addition to its technical bench.
This has not stopped supporters from expressing concerns about the lack of quality and depth in the team.
“I don’t really know and it will be very difficult for us…. Good luck, TP Mazembe,” one follower, Urbain Namulolo said of the prospects of facing the Zambian champions.
Another expressed worries about the ban.
“In four days, it will be the end of the registration of new recruits. So, if FIFA doesn’t lift Mazembe’s sanction by August 30, the club is supposed to be [worried] using their former [current] players,” he said.
The two-legged encounter has been set for September 14 and 21 in Lusaka and Lubumbashi, respectively.
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