COSAFA - Revised Roadmap For 2020 Tournaments

COSAFA has released a revised roadmap for its tournaments originally scheduled for 2020. The body says it remains optimistic that four of the six events will still be able to take place this year, despite the severe disruption caused by COVID-19. 

COSAFA noted however that despite its hard work behind the scenes to prepare for the upcoming events, they will only be able to proceed with the necessary governmental approvals from across the region. 

Commenting on the matter COSAFA has stated, “These are the greatest obstacles to overcome, but there have been some encouraging signs in recent weeks now that the South African Government has re-opened borders to African countries and confirmed that international sporting events may take place.”  

While COSAFA hopes to hold the majority of its planned events it has stated that it is too late for the COSAFA Cup to go ahead given the insufficient preparation time available to utilise the October FIFA International window and the upcoming resumption of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in November. 

Among the tournaments to be scheduled are the COSAFA Women’s Championship in South Africa’s Nelson Mandela Bay. The event is now expected to take place between November 3-14. Eight nations are expected to take part. According to COSAFA the teams that have confirmed their participation are South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Comoros, Angola and Malawi, while Namibia and Eswatini are awaiting government approval to travel. 

The COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship will take place concurrently with the senior tournament, but with a smaller group of teams.  

The COSAFA Men’s Under-17 Championship is planned for November 19-29, with the host city in South Africa yet to be decided. The two finalists of the competition will qualify for the continental finals in Morocco in July 2021. 

The COSAFA Men’s Under-20 Championship will take place in South Africa from December 3-13. It was originally planned for Mauritius. However, the island nation withdrew from hosting due to COVID-19. Twelve nations are expected to participate.  

“A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes during the COVID-19 pandemic to try and realise our goals of hosting these events to continue our mandate of developing Southern African football on and off the pitch,” COSAFA General Secretary Sue Destombes stated. 

“But we are completely reliant on conditions being favourable and obviously that is out of our control. What we can promise is that health and safety protocols will be in place, as well as utilising practices from the experiences of the South African Football Association, who successfully completed their 2019-20 league season.”