adminMehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Under-17 boys football team will not be able to defend their title at the African Union Sports Council Region 5 Games to be held in Botswana at the end of the year with only the girls Under-20 appearing in the draw released by Cosafa yesterday.
Coached by Tafadzwa Mashiri, the Zimbabwean lads defeated host nation Angola 1-0 in the final which went into extra time.
However, in the draw, only the girls Under-20 were entered and will play in the same group as Botswana, Malawi as well as Lesotho.
SRC acting director general Joseph Muchechetere said it was decided that since there are no enough funds to send a full team, those with chances of getting medals for the country are being sent to Botswana.
“The full quota of the team is 300 but due to funding challenges we are only able to send a team of 86. In view of this we decided to only send teams which are medal hopefuls. We stand a better chance in girls than boys. Women soccer development has also been prioritised as the regional strategy. Mighty Warriors participated in the last Olympics showing us that opportunities are there for girls to compete at that level especially where we do not have money,’’ Muchechetere said.
On how it was decided that the girls stand a better chance than boys when the latter won gold in 2016, Muchechetere indicated that there was no guarantee that the lads were going to defend their title since there are no well structured junior structures.
Cosafa announced that three stadia be used for the football events, these being the 8 000-seater UB Stadium, Jamal Grounds and the National Stadium.
AUSC Region 5 Women’s Under-20 draw
Group A
Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Lesotho
Group B
South Africa, Namibia, Eswatini
AUSC Region 5 Men’s Under-17 draw
Group A
Botswana, Zambia, Eswatini, Namibia
Group B
Angola, Tanzania, Malawi, South Africa
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