Malawi booted out of U-17 COSASSA tournament
Malawi Schools Football Team produced a lackluster performance at the just ended 2017 Confederation of Southern African School Sports Association (COSASSA) Under 17 tournament because of age cheating, the Team’s Head Coach has revealed.
During the tournament which was held in Lesotho, Malawi failed to qualify for the next round as they lost to Namibia by 2-1 before drawing 2-2 against Botswana in the group stages.
Head Coach for the team, Benjamin Kumwenda said Malawi was grouped with teams which had players old enough to be playing in the Under 20 competitions.
“The team performed well though the results were unsatisfactory. We were grouped with Namibia and Botswana which had players aged above 17,” he said.
Kumwenda said Malawi raised the concern of age cheating to the organizers and hoped there will be an improvement in the next tournament.
He appealed to Malawi Schools Associations (MASSA) to continue sending the team to the tournament to gain much needed exposure and experience.
“MASSA should not take the foot off the paddle. This is good for football development in the country. Other sports disciplines such as volleyball, netball and basketball should also be considered,” the head coach said.
The Players that participated in the tournament were selected from last year’s Copa coca-cola and Airtel Rising Stars Under 17 schools tournament.
COSASSA organized the tournament to spot raw talents for the future.
