The 2023

Absa Cup The ABSA Cup, formerly the Barclays Cup, is the current branding for an association football cup competition launched in 2007 by the Football Association of Zambia. Participants are decided half-way through current season (match day 17) and are ...

was the 16th edition of the annual knock-out competition in Zambian football contested by the top 6 teams from the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

and the top 2 teams from the

National Division One The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men's English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when Eng ...

following the conclusion of match day 17 of the 2022–23 season. It was also the 4th edition under the "Absa Cup" name following Absa's completed acquisition of the African assets and operations of

Barclays Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

in 2018. NAPSA Stars were defending champions after defeating

Red Arrows The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force (RAF) based at RAF Waddington. The team was formed in late 1964 as an all-Royal Air Force team, replacing several un ...

1–0 to win the previous edition's title. but failed to qualify for this edition after finding themselves in 11th place in the standings mid-season. The

video assistant referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a Assistant referee (association football), match official in association football who assists the referee by reviewing decisions using video footage and providing advice to the referee based on those revi ...

(VAR) was introduced to the competition and implemented on a pilot basis at this edition's final, which was a first in Zambian football and Sub-Saharan African football as a whole and thus put Zambia on the list as the 3rd African country after Morocco and Egypt to introduce and implement VAR in domestic football matches. Head of referees at FAZ, Aziph Banda, cited the inadequacy of

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

-certified referees to operate it, with female referee Diana Chikotesha being the only exception having previously experienced its usage at the

2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations The 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations (, ), (also referred to as WAFCON 2022) officially known as the 2022 TotalEnergies Women's Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes, was the 14th edition of the biennial African international women's ...

and Janny Sikazwe having retired from professional refereeingas the reason why the association appointed foreign referees solely for that final, which was won by Forest Rangers

Draw

At the conclusion of match day 17 of the 2022–23 Zambian football season, the Super League table's top 6 positions consisted of Forest Rangers,

Power Dynamos Power Dynamos is a Zambian professional football club based in Kitwe that plays in the MTN/FAZ Super Division. They play their home games at Arthur Davies Stadium in Kitwe. The club is currently sponsored by Copperbelt Energy Corporation. Powe ...

Green Buffaloes Green Buffaloes Football Club is a Zambian professional football club based in Lusaka that competes in the Zambia Super League, the top flight of Zambian football. Founded in 1965 as the Zambian Army Football Club, an association football extens ...

, Green Eagles and Maestro United and the National Division One table's top 2 positions consisted of

Mufulira Wanderers Mufulira Wanderers are Zambia's most successful football club, based in the Copperbelt town of Mufulira, and compete in the Zambia Super League after their promotion from the Zambia National Division One at the end of 2023–24. Popularly kno ...

and Trident FC. The draw was held at a relocated headquarters of Absa Bank Zambia in

Lusaka Lusaka ( ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was abo ...

on 1 March 2023. Green Buffaloes, Green Eagles, Red Arrows and Power Dynamos were seeded by virtue of their performances in the previous editions of the Absa Cup with Mufulira Wanderers, Trident FC, Maestro United and Forest Rangers being unseeded.

Bracket

Matches

Kick-off times listed are in

CAT The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

( UTC+02:00).

Quarter-finals

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Semi-finals

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Final

Prize allocation and logistics

Absa Bank Zambia announced a tournament prize and logistical monetary increment a day before the draw ceremony, i.e. on 28 February 2023 which are as follows:

References

{{Reflist Football competitions in Zambia 2022–23 in Zambian football 2023 in Zambian sport