It remains to be seen whether Black Leopards will be among the four teams that will take part in the annual Telkom Charity Cup tournament this year. The voting process started last Friday.

The four teams that will accumulate the largest number of votes at the end of the voting process will battle it out in the one-day tournament that will be staged at the Mmabatho Stadium in the North-West on August 4.

For the first time since they gained promotion to the elite league, Black Leopards failed to qualify for the tournament last year. It will be the first time that the tournament will be staged outside the Gauteng Province. The change of venue has been influenced by the fact that the FNB Stadium, which has been known as the home for the Telkom Charity Cup tournament, is under refurbishment.

As a token of appreciating the PSL’s decision to stage the tournament in the province, the North-West Provincial government has donated R1million towards the event.

The voting process will end a week before the tournament. The four teams that took part in last year’s event were Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, Mamelodi Sundowns and Bloemfontein Celtic.

Kaizer Chiefs were still leading the pack with just over 7 000 votes at the time of going to press. Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates, Bloemfontein Celtic, Black Leopards and Moroka Swallows were fighting for the next five positions.

Fans wishing to vote for Black Leopards must dial 086 2233 603.

According to the organizers for the competition, an amount of R9 000 has been set aside as players’ incentives.