Sports Reporter
ZIFA boss Lincoln Mutasa says the country is ready to welcome teams from the region to Harare for the second edition of the CAF African Schools Football Championships COSAFA Qualifier.
It’s a sign of the growing confidence in local football that the country has been given the chance to host the prestigious event a few months after being readmitted into international football.
“The tournament will take place in Harare from December 14-16, with a slight tweak to the tournament this year as boys and girls teams vie to represent the region on the continental stage.
“We are delighted to be back competing on the international scene again.
“We couldn’t ask for a better way to start the new chapter than to host the CAF African Schools Football Championship COSAFA Qualifier, Zimbabwe 2023.
“School-going boys and girls are the bedrock of our vision to create competitive generational teams. We are grateful to CAF and COSAFA for giving us the honour to host the second edition.
“This tournament gives a lot of football stakeholders encouragement that, indeed, our football is on the right development track.”
He added:
“The participants will be better footballers after the competition because previously they had no opportunity to play competitive national team games.
“This is a life-time opportunity for us as a country for our boys and girls who did not participate in the inaugural edition.
“After this tournament, we are confident that everyone will begin to treasure schools’ football because it has great possibilities for the young boys and girls who previously did not have opportunities to play competitive matches.”
Eleven COSAFA members will send boys and girls sides to compete in the Under-15 competition, where they will hope to earn a place at the continental finals next year.