Cosafa, Safa agree on tournaments
By Mabvuto Kambuwe and Ronald Mpaso:
Council of Southern African Football Associations (Cosafa) and South African Football Association (Safa) have finally ironed out their differences which threatened the future of this year’s regional tournaments.
Safa recently announced that it had stopped hosting Cosafa tournaments and asked the regional football governing body to allow members to bid for hosting rights.
Following the development, Cosafa issued a press release stating that it was engaging Safa in talks aimed at resolving the matter.
In a statement released Wednesday evening, Cosafa announced that it had held a fruitful and productive meeting with Safa to find common ground on the hosting of future tournaments in South Africa.
“The meeting was constructive in unpacking any differences and misunderstandings which may have arisen relating to the bidding for and hosting of Cosafa events. Those misunderstandings have been ironed out through transparent and open discussion and an agreement on a new way forward has been reached.
“Common ground and a way of working together into the future through collaboration between the two organisations has been established, which positively impacts tournaments already set into the Cosafa calendar as well as future events, wherever they may be held,” part of the statement reads.
Cosafa also acknowledged that some of its members are currently bidding for major international events such as the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) and Fifa Women’s World Cup.
Zambia and Botswana are bidding for the 2025 and 2027 tournaments, respectively, while South Africa wants the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“This is a matter that will be discussed and dealt with at the upcoming Cosafa General Assembly and a statement will be released at a later date,” the statement concludes.
Malawi is one of the countries that send teams to Cosafa competitions at all levels every year.
