The Zambian Premier League (ZPL) has confirmed that the final standings of the upcoming transitional MTN Super League season will determine qualification for the 2027 ABSA Cup, bringing a major change to the qualification criteria used in recent years.
The transitional MTN Super League season is scheduled to kick off on October 3, 2026, with the league taking on a different format as teams are divided into Stream A and Stream B. At the conclusion of the transitional campaign, the top seven teams overall will secure qualification for the 2027 ABSA Cup, which will be played during the first half of the 2027 season.
ZPL Head of League and Competitions Brian Mulenga confirmed the arrangement during a press briefing at MTN House, where league sponsors MTN Zambia and broadcasters TopStar were engaging the media ahead of the new season.
Mulenga explained that the ABSA Cup will not be staged during the transitional campaign itself. Instead, the final league positions from the transitional season will determine which clubs earn places in the following edition of the country’s premier domestic cup competition.
“We will not play the ABSA Cup during the transitional season, but the league standings at the end of the transitional season will determine who plays in the ABSA Cup in the full season,” Mulenga said.
“And the ABSA Cup itself will be played in the first half of the 2027 season.”
The change effectively brings the ABSA Cup qualification system back to an approach previously used in Zambian football. Mulenga said the new arrangement is similar to the format used in 2018, when clubs’ positions at the end of the league season determined their participation in the following ABSA Cup.
“In short, even the ABSA Cup is reverting back to the format it used to have, like in 2018, where the positions at the end of the season will determine their [teams] participation in the ABSA Cup.”
For the past nine years, ABSA Cup qualification has been determined by the MTN Super League standings at the halfway stage of the season, with the top seven teams earning places in the competition. That system has attracted criticism from various stakeholders, particularly because clubs could qualify for the country’s major domestic cup based on their position midway through a league campaign rather than their final standing.
The transitional season will therefore provide a different route, with clubs required to finish strongly across the campaign if they want to secure one of the seven available ABSA Cup places.
The changes extend beyond the ABSA Cup, with the ZPL also confirming how Zambia’s representatives in continental competition will be determined following the transitional MTN Super League campaign.
The two stream winners will meet in a championship playoff, with the decisive match serving as the final of the transitional league. The match will be played at a neutral venue, and the winner will be crowned MTN Super League champion for the transitional season.
That champion will subsequently represent Zambia in the CAF Champions League.
“For the rest of the competition, two teams from each stream will be demoted. The winners of the two streams will play a playoff which will be the final, and this final will be at a neutral venue, and it will culminate in a champion and this champion from the transitional season will represent Zambia at the CAF Champions League,” Mulenga said.
The relegation structure has also been confirmed, with two teams from each stream set to be demoted at the end of the transitional campaign. This means four clubs will ultimately drop out of the top flight as the league prepares for its subsequent full-season structure.
The playoff between the two stream winners will therefore carry significant importance. While both clubs will have already secured their respective stream titles, the final will determine the overall transitional-season champion and, more importantly, Zambia’s representative in the CAF Champions League.
The ZPL had earlier confirmed that the ABSA Cup winner will represent Zambia in the CAF Confederation Cup, meaning the country’s domestic competitions will provide separate routes into CAF’s two major inter-club competitions.
The new structure places considerable importance on the transitional MTN Super League standings. Clubs will be competing not only for stream supremacy and the chance to reach the championship playoff, but also for one of the seven positions that guarantee participation in the 2027 ABSA Cup.
With the transitional season beginning on October 3, 2026, clubs now have a clear understanding of the stakes. The two stream winners will battle for the league championship and a place in the CAF Champions League, the bottom two teams in each stream will face relegation, while the final league standings will determine the seven clubs that enter the 2027 ABSA Cup.
The 2027 ABSA Cup itself will then be staged in the first half of the 2027 season, completing a transition that will see Zambia’s domestic competitions return to a qualification model based on final league positions rather than halfway standings.
