Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
COSAFA has released a full calendar for 2021 which sees the return of the senior men’s championships that was suspended last year.
Last year, Cosafa managed to stage the men’s Under-17 and Under-20 tournaments as well as the Women’s senior and Under-17 women’s championships.
“We have a full calendar of tournaments at this stage, and we are hopeful we will be able to stage them all, even in these most challenging of times. The highlight must the introduction of the regional Women’s Champions League, which will be a zonal qualifier for the new Caf Women’s Champions League which is coming later this year.
“We will be looking to roll it out between May and August, which will contain a preliminary round and then a final tournament. We are extremely excited about this new competition,” Cosafa general secretary Sue Destombes said.
The flagship men’s Cosafa Cup is slated in the Fifa window that runs from May 31 to June 16, while the men’s Under-20 Championship will take its usual slot in December.
The men’s Under-17 Championship is likely to be played as part of the Region 5 Games in Lesotho in December, with the women’s Under-20 competition to also take place as part of the Games.
The Cosafa Women’s Championship is scheduled for September, while the Women’s Under-17 event is pencilled in for August.
Cosafa also hopes to host a Beach Soccer event in July, and the first ever Futsal competition in Mozambique in September/October. – @innocenskizoe
Online Reporter