Although the country's football officialdom has been intent on keeping Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko from facing one another at the Accra Stadium, this weekend's Guinness Gala sees them powerless to the draw.

As such all things being equal the arch-rivals could in fact meet in the final of the competition as they have been drawn in different halves of the pairings. The two sides have not met at the Accra Stadium since the May 9 tragedy with matches between the two at the venue failing to materialise.

However, in the tournament commencing on Saturday, very little can be done about any such potential clash should both sides progress to the final stages of the competition.

In the first half of the groupings Hearts will face Mine Stars, while Dawu Youngsters play RTU. The other two fixtures see CAF Cup campaigners Goldfields meet Okwawu United and newly promoted BA United clash with Great Olympics.

The remaining first round pairings are: Hasaacas versus King Faisal, Liberty Professionals against Berekum Arsenals, Bofoakwa against Power FC while Kotoko clash with Maxbees.