ZIFA makes last minute call
By Geronimo News
The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) has for the first time in a long time made the right call to send youth teams to the COSAFA Championships this year after the mother body had previously indicated the country will not participate in such games.
It now means Zimbabwe will send their Under-17 boys and girls teams to the tournament which will run as the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Games in Lesotho from the 1st to the 10th of December 2021.
With the country reeling from not having a vibrant junior policy to act as a feeder system to the senior national teams such competitions are vital in exposing young talent in preparation for their future in big stages.
Although there is no junior league football to talk about in the country, ZIFA has to quickly make a plan to ensure they send the teams to the COSAFA showpiece.
Where they will get the players remains a story for another day.
COSAFA on Monday night confirmed they had received a late request from ZIFA for the inclusion of the national teams in the tournaments and hinted a fresh draw will now be held.
The draw for the boys’ Under-17 competition was initially held last Friday with the format changed following the late withdrawal of Mozambique and now with Zimbabwe back in the equation COSAFA is set to revert back to its old system were there will be three pools instead of two.
On the girls side there has been one pool of four teams following the withdrawal of a couple of teams as well and the coming in of the Young Mighty Warriors will make them five teams which will play in a round robin basis with the top two teams progressing to the final.
