Cosafa applauds Malawi for hosting Under-17 championship
Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) has hailed Malawi for accepting to host this year’s Cosafa Under-17 Youth Championship.
The regional football governing body’s General Secretary, Sue Destombes, made the remarks on Thursday evening at Hotel in Blantyre when Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism hosted a pre-tournament cocktail party ahead of Friday’s kick off.
“We are looking forward to an exciting tournament as young talent will be on display. This will also accord us an opportunity to use this eight-team competition to prepare for a bigger format next year when we expect to have 12 teams in a zonal qualifier for the 2021 under-17 African Cup of Nations,” Destombes said.
She also thanked local sponsors for partnering Cosafa and Football Association of Malawi in sponsoring the competition.
Fam President, Walter Nyamilandu, said after investing in under-15 and 17 leagues, it was time to gauge progress of grassroot football development structures.
“We have invested a lot in youth football programmes and the benefits can be gauged from this tournament. We would like to thank Cosafa for consistently organising this competition. To us, the sky is the limit. We expect to do more in developing young talent,” Nyamilandu said.
Department of Tourism Regional Tourism Officer (South), Christin Chimangeni, said the competition will help in promoting the country’s tourism sector.
Malawi kicked off the tournament with a 3-0 victory over South Africa Saturday.
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