The Cosafa Cup for 2015 takes centre stage in South Africa’s North West province from May 17-31 as the best in the region vie for the prestigious crown.
According to a press statement from Cosafa, the timing of the tournament gives many competing nations the chance to play full-strength sides, including their overseas-based players with many leagues having come to a close by then.
The South African Football Association will host the tournament, with 12 of the 14 COSAFA nations having confirmed their participation so far.Comoros Islands have opted not to compete, while Angola will make a decision on their entry shortly.
The draw for the 2015 tournament will take place in Johannesburg on Thursday, February 26, and will be broadcast live on SuperSport 4 from 18h00.
The format of the team will be the same as in 2013. The competition failed to take place last year as host Botswana pulled out due to funding issues.
The lower eight participating sides according to the February FIFA Rankings will compete in the first round, where they will be drawn into two pool each comprising four teams.
The top team in each group will advance to the knockout stage of the tournament, where the six higher ranked sides will join the tournament from the quarterfinals onwards.
There will also be a plate competition for those sides knocked out in the quarterfinals of the competition to ensure each side plays multiple matches.
COSAFA is made up of Angola, Botswana, the Comoros Islands, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, the Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Image: The log of last year’s competition which failed to take place in Botswana