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Camp delay

Scorchers coach Lovemore Fazili is concerned about the national women’s football team’s delay to start preparations for the Cosafa Women’s Championship in South Africa scheduled for October 22 to November 2.

With less than three weeks remaining before this year’s edition, in an interview yesterday he said he plan is to have a two-week camp and an international friendly match

Save for the week-long camp during the Fifa Women’s International Window early July, the women’s football national team has been idle since the previous edition last October.

Said Fazili: “As defending champions, it is really a must to be in good shape ahead of the competition because it will be the wish of all the other teams to beat us.

“It is for this reason that we would love to have a maximum of a two-week camp and at least an international friendly match before we begin the title defence. We are hopeful that, funds permitting, all these will be done accordingly.”

He added that since the Cosafa Championship will be played during the Fifa window, he is hoping that all the foreign-based players will be in at least a week before the tournament.

He said: “We would like to have the professionals at least a week before the tournament so that they can have ample time to gel with the local-based players. We have seen that happening with the men’s Under-20 national team and we hope the same will happen with us.”

Currently, Malawi has three overseas-based professionals im  strikers Tabitha Chawinga and Rose Kabzere in France  and midfielder Temwa Chawinga in the United States of America.

Malawi also has two professionals in the Democratic Republic of Congo Sabina Thom and Chimwemwe Madise and four in Zambia Vanessa Chikupira, Ireen Kumalo, Emily Jossam and Madyina Ngulube. Midfielder Mary Chabvinda is based in Rwanda.

Temwa Chawinga, who won the golden boot in the last Cosafa edition with nine goals, said the Scorchers do not get the necessary support from authorities.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) general secretary Alfred Gunda yesterday said they are waiting for the association’s technical director Benjamin Kumwenda to provide the Scorchers plans.

“We are waiting for the Scorchers’ plan from the technical director. Once that is done, I can comfortably comment on the team’s preparations,” he said.

However, Kumwenda yesterday asked for more time to respond as he was at a funeral.

This year’s tournament will have a record 14 countries, namely,Malawi, South Africa, Angola, Comoros, E-swatini, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

According to Cosafa website www.cosafa.com, the competition will have three groups of four teams each with only winners and runners-up across the groups advancing to the semi-finals.

The Scorchers won their maiden Cosafa title last year when they beat Zambia 2-1 in the final. In the 2021 edition, they were runners-up following a 1-0 loss to guests Tanzania in the final.

South Africa’s Banyana Banyana, who are the continental champions, have won the Cosafa Women’s Championship seven times, having triumphed in 2002, 2006, 2008, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. 

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