Cosafa Cup dates moved to year end
The Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) has confirmed the cancellation and shifting of dates for the 2014 COSAFA Cup edition.
The tournament which was supposed to be hosted by Botswana was planned to start in September.
According to a statement released by COSAFA seen by Nyasa Times, the council is hopeful of staging the tournament in a new host country in November or December.
The council cited financial and logistical constratints as the major reasons for the cancellation.
“Due to financial and logistical constraints, the COSAFA Cup, which was due to be played in Botswana in September 2014, has had to be cancelled,” says COSAFA President Suketu Patel in the statement.
The association has however hailed Botswana FA for the efforts made in preparations for the cancelled tournament.
At the meantime COSAFA says it is pleased to report that it has managed to secure the necessary resources to host a tournament in November/December of this year.
One of the requirements of the commercial partners is that the tournament is played in their country, and COSAFA has written to the relevant national association to seek permission to host the 2014 COSAFA Cup in their territory.
“Currently we await response to our request which has been promised by the end of this week, after which we will make a full press briefing on this matter.” reads part of the statement.
Malawi national soccer team has been runners-up in two Cosafa Cup competitions after reaching the final for the first time in 2002 and 2003.
They lost to South Africa and Zimbabwe respectively.
