Malawi to host 2020 Cosafa Under-17
Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) President Phillip Chiyangwa has announced that Malawi will host again the under-17 championship next year.
Chiyangwa made the announcement at Mpira Stadium, Chiwembe Township, Blantyre Sunday after crowning Zambia as champions of the 2019 edition.
“I am proud to announce results of discussions I had with Walter Nyamilandu [Football Association of Malawi] who is also Fifa Council member [for anglo-phone countries]-Malawi will host this tournament again next year,” he said.
The Zimbabwean also said Cosafa was discussing with Fam over the possibility of hosting a senior championship in future.
Taking his turn, Nyamilandu said the junior Flames would come more prepared in next year’s championship.
“It hurts that we did not win it, but we will come back stronger next year. I want to thank you for the good behaviour throughout the tournament,” he told the fans.
The Junior Flames exited this year’s competition from the group stages after beating South Africa 3-0 then losing 2-1 and 3-2 to eSwatini and Zambia.
Malawi also hosted the under-17 championship and won it in 2001 but have never hosted let alone won the senior championship. This year, eight teams took part in the under-17 event.
This year’s tournament attracted close to 200 people from the seven participating countries thereby boosting the hospitality industry as the players, coaches and officiating personnel were booked in most top hotels in Blantyre.
Local Organising Committee Chairperson Jabbar Alide said his team and Fam had learnt a lot on what it takes to organize such a competition which took place at Mpira and Kamuzu stadia.
