Cape Town - The inaugural Cape Town Cup competition will feature English Premiership outfit Crystal Palace FC and the Primeira Liga’s Sporting Clube de Portugal at the Cape Town Stadium next month.
Co-hosts Ajax Cape Town and fellow PSL rivals SuperSport United will complete the field for the four-team event that kicks off on Friday, July 24, and ends two days later. Double-headers will be played on both tournament days.
Event hosts, the City of Cape Town and Ajax, unveiled the tournament details in Green Point, on Wednesday.
Sporting, one of ‘The Big Three’ in Portuguese football, finished third in the Primeira Liga, and are former holders of European Cup Winners’ Cup. The club will be playing in the UEFA Champions League play-off round next season.
The club has a huge following in some African countries like Angola and Mozambique, and Anton Groenewald, the Executive Director of Tourism, Events and Economic Development in the City of Cape Town, said plans were in place for supporters from these countries to attend the event.
The Selhurst Park-based side, Crystal Palace, finished 10th in the English Premiership. Palace Chief Executive Phil Alexander said he expected many fans of the South London club to come out to attend the matches at the iconic 2010 World Cup venue.
“We have many fans in South Africa and we are not just coming here to make up the numbers. We’re coming to win the tournament. We’ll be bringing over our first team as part of our pre-season preparations,” said Alexander.
The tournament fixture draw, which was conducted at the launch, pitted Palace against SuperSport United and Sporting against Ajax, in the first double-header on July 24.
ANA