Kota Kinabalu: A total of 25 teams will be vying for the 2026 Sabah Zone Cahya Mata Cup football tournament scheduled to start on July 18 at the Sukma fields in Likas.
The main organiser of the tournament for individuals aged 35 and below is Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd and Tunas Bolasepak Bandaraya (TBBKK) has been assigned as host for Sabah Zone.
Competition manager Roslan Wasli said it will be played in a format similar to the MFL FA Cup.
The opening round losers compete in the Challenge Cup and the winners progress to the Cahya Mata Cup.
According to him, the final will be held at Likas Stadium scheduled at the end of this month and the champions will get to represent Sabah Zone for the knockout stage among the qualifying State champions in Kuala Lumpur.
“Only the final four teams will qualify for the grand finals to be held in Kuching, Sarawak to compete for the RM100,000 grand prize,” he said.
He added that among the strong contenders are Uncle Chang (Semporna) Perkasa Padu (Sipitang) MDK (Keningau), Sabah Cop (KK), UMS (KK), Telaga FC (Pitas) Laeizo (Keningau) and RZ FC (KK)Meanwhile, the draw for the competition, which took place at the Sabah International Conventional Centre on Saturday was officiated by Sabah Football Association (Safa) secretary general Shamsudin Mohd Shah.
Also present were Safa technical director Roney B Asmadul Bakar, deputy chairman of the referee and youth development committee Othman Abdullah and competition director and CEO of TBKK Mohammad Zaim Ansawi.
