Cosafa to hold 5 competitions in 2018

Council for Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) will stage five regional competitions in the 2018 calendar.

Apart from the usual senior men’s championship, the men’s under-20, men’s under-17 and Women’s Championship, Cosafa will also hold the women’s under-20 tournament, according to the regional body’s deputy chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda.

“The flagship Cosafa Cup tournament for senior men’s national teams will be hosted in South Africa from May 27 to June 9, providing rich entertainment for fans in the build-up to the Fifa World Cup in Russia.

“That will be followed by the Cosafa Under-17 Championships in Mauritius from July 19-29, which will also serve as a zonal qualifier for the 2019 African Under-17 Championships in Tanzania.

“The Cosafa Women’s Championship will also be staged in South Africa, with the exact dates still to be determined, while there will also be a women’s Under-20 tournament from December 1-15 in Botswana that will form part of the Region V Under-20 Youth Games.

“And the fifth competition to be played will be the annual Under-20 Championships, also in December, with the exact dates and venue to be announced at a later stage,” a statement from Cosafa reads in part.

Meanwhile, Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has said they would like to have representation in all competitions.

“Our wish is to send teams to all the five competitions. These are very important tournaments in as far as exposing up-and-coming talent is concerned,” said FAM general secretary Alfred Gunda.

The GS said the senior men’s tournament will help the Flames prepare for the African Cup of Nation (Afcon) qualifiers.

Malawi face Morocco, Cameroon and Comoros in the qualifiers later this year.

“Our opponents such as Morocco will be at Russia World Cup. For us, the Cosafa Cup gives us the opportunity to prepare our team,” he said.