Cosafa Cup draw changes venues
Cosafa chief operations officer Sue Destombes yesterday announced a change of venue for the Cosafa Cup draw.
The draw was supposed to take place tonight at the NBC TV studios in Windhoek but will now be held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The venue change was made due to travel problems.
Cosafa said the unavailability of flights back to Johannesburg by Friday was the main reason.
“It is with deep regret that I advise that due to the non-availability of flights from Windhoek to Johannesburg on Friday 29th after the draw the draw in Windhoek must be cancelled.
“The draw will therefore take place in Johannesburg tomorrow (Thursday). We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused but these are circumstances beyond our control,” Destombes said.
Member of the Cosafa Local Organising Committee (LOC) and NFA secretary-general Barry Rukoro expressed his regret.
“This is a totally regrettable situation but we have to do what we need to do for the sake of the draw.
“All flights are fully booked until Tuesday, 3 May and that could have meant the whole Cosafa delegation from all over the region stays in Windhoek until Tuesday which is very costly.
“The best decision arrived at is to host the draw in Johannesburg instead of Windhoek on Thursday as earlier planned,” Rukoro stated.
The draw will determine how the teams face each other.
There are 14 teams for the tournament and eight of those will be involved in the first round to be divided into two groups of four nations each.
The teams for the groups are: seeded sides Malawi, Angola, Zimbabwe and Swaziland, as well as Madagascar, Lesotho, Mauritius and Seychelles.
The teams have been seeded based on the April 2016 FIFA World Rankings.
The two group winners will join the defending champions Namibia, DR Congo, South Africa, Zambia, Botswana and Mozambique in the quarterfinals.
NFA.ORG.NA
The draw was supposed to take place tonight at the NBC TV studios in Windhoek but will now be held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The venue change was made due to travel problems.
Cosafa said the unavailability of flights back to Johannesburg by Friday was the main reason.
“It is with deep regret that I advise that due to the non-availability of flights from Windhoek to Johannesburg on Friday 29th after the draw the draw in Windhoek must be cancelled.
“The draw will therefore take place in Johannesburg tomorrow (Thursday). We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused but these are circumstances beyond our control,” Destombes said.
Member of the Cosafa Local Organising Committee (LOC) and NFA secretary-general Barry Rukoro expressed his regret.
“This is a totally regrettable situation but we have to do what we need to do for the sake of the draw.
“All flights are fully booked until Tuesday, 3 May and that could have meant the whole Cosafa delegation from all over the region stays in Windhoek until Tuesday which is very costly.
“The best decision arrived at is to host the draw in Johannesburg instead of Windhoek on Thursday as earlier planned,” Rukoro stated.
The draw will determine how the teams face each other.
There are 14 teams for the tournament and eight of those will be involved in the first round to be divided into two groups of four nations each.
The teams for the groups are: seeded sides Malawi, Angola, Zimbabwe and Swaziland, as well as Madagascar, Lesotho, Mauritius and Seychelles.
The teams have been seeded based on the April 2016 FIFA World Rankings.
The two group winners will join the defending champions Namibia, DR Congo, South Africa, Zambia, Botswana and Mozambique in the quarterfinals.
NFA.ORG.NA
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article