Cosafa tourneys rescheduled
Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) has rescheduled some of its tournaments.
The flagship Cosafa Men’s championship which was slated for May 27-10 June has been rescheduled to July at a date and venue to be announced later.
The development comes just a day after the regional football governing body held a successful meeting with South Africa Football Association (Safa).
The two bodies discussed the hosting of the regional tournament after Safa asked Cosafa to extend hosting to all member associations.
The Flames, under the tutelage of interim coach Patrick Mabedi, were expected to regroup on Monday at Chiwembe Technical Centre in preparation for the tournament.
This means the Flames will not have a chance to fine-tune for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) away qualifier against Ethiopia in June.
Malawi will then meet Guinea at home in September this year.
Football Association of Malawi president Walter Nyamilandu described the postponement as a huge setback.
’’The new coach won’t have an opportunity to reorganise the team and test his new players before playing the crucial qualifier against Ethiopia. This is a missed opportunity for Cosafa members to gain advantage over other zones as Afcon qualifiers are going towards the closing stages.
“However, I believe Cosafa was left with no alternative considering the circumstances. So we have to accept the outcome and find other feasible means of preparing the team,’’ Nyamilandu said.
Cosafa Cup was expected to be the first tournament for Mabedi who replaced Mario Marinica last month after Fam decided against renewing his contract due to poor results.
During the 2022 edition held in South Africa, the Flames were eliminated in the group stages after one win, a draw and a loss.
In the Afcon qualifiers, the Flames have three points from four matches, six points behind Egypt and Guinea.
Cosafa is expected to host other tournaments including the Women’s Championship, and the Under-20 boys’ and girls’ tournaments.
Also on the menu are African Schools Championship qualifiers, Beach Soccer championship and the Under-17 girls’ and boys’ tournaments.
