Harare — IT'S now official Zimbabwe will open its doors to its regional counterparts in October when it stages the 2009 edition of the Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup after accepting an offer from the organisers to host the region's flagship competition.

Zimbabwe last hosted a major football tournament -- involving senior national teams way back in 1985 when the Confederation of East and Central African Football Associations bandwagon rolled into Harare that year.

The Warriors won that tournament, before a capacity crowd at Rufaro, when they turned on the style to beat Kenya's Harambee Stars 2-0 with the late Gift "Ghetto" Mpariwa and the late Shackman "Mr Goals" Tauro on target. Cosafa chief operations officer, Sue Destombes, told a media conference in Harare yesterday that Zimbabwe will host this year's Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup and they were confident that the country will stage a successful tournament.

"As Cosafa, we are behind Zimbabwe on the rebranding campaign and we have seen it fit to bring the tournament to the country and show our solidarity with Zimbabwe," she said.

The Government immediately threw its support behind the tournament saying the event would go a long way in helping build the country's image. Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Walter Mzembi said the hosting of the Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup would also boost efforts to promote the country's tourism industry ahead of the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

"The Government agrees and accepts that we should have the 12th edition of the Cosafa tournament here in Zimbabwe," said Mzembi. "And the Government will put its full weight behind the tournament and this is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss and we are ready to help.

"It is an expression of confidence that the country is able to host the tournament." He said a successful Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup would be a big public relations exercise for the country in its bid to woo fans and teams to come and visit Zimbabwe ahead of the 2010 World Cup finals.

"The nations would be watching what the region is saying of Zimbabwe and hosting the tournament will make our task easier." He said the tournament would also help local authorities assess their capacity to host fans and teams who might wish to visit Zimbabwe ahead of the 2010 World Cup bandwagon.

Zifa chief executive officer Henrietta Rushwaya said the mother board, together with other stakeholders, would have to work hard to prepare for the tournament. "Given the state of our stadiums, we are going to work flat out with the local authorities to ensure that we make the necessary improvements and bring them to the acceptable standards," said Rushwaya.

She said all football stakeholders should unite in preparing for the tournament that has been set for Harare and Bulawayo. The Herald revealed this week that Zimbabwe had been given the greenlight to host the Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup provided Zifa could secure a sponsorship package of about US$700 000 needed to cover the cost of running the region's flagship football tourney.

The country will also have to provide, on top of the sponsorship package, accommodation, transport and food for the participating teams and acceptable venues for the big tournament.

The bid to host the 2009 Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup was made by Zifa, working in tandem with the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, who believe that this could be a big public relations coup for the country in its bid to attract visitors ahead of the 2010 World Cup showcase.

Just having about a dozen senior national teams, camped in Zimbabwe for a week or so in the battle for the Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup, will be a massive boost for the campaign to convince the world that the country has the capacity to host big football contingents.

Poland have already confirmed that they will camp in Zimbabwe should they qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals while Fifa president Sepp Blatter is also due to visit this country before the showcase in South Africa.

ZTA played a central role in sending a group of Zimbabwean football fans in support of South Africa's hosting of the 2009 Confederations Cup finals to Johannesburg and this gesture was hailed by Blatter.

Zifa president Wellington Nyatanga last month confirmed his association's willingness to host the tournament in a letter to the Cosafa chief operations officer.

"Further to the Cosafa Executive Meeting held in Johannesburg concerning the Cosafa Senior Challenge Tournament, the Zimbabwe Football Association is pleased to advise you that the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority is in agreement to partner Zifa in hosting the Cosafa Senior Challenge Tournament in Zimbabwe," wrote Nyatanga.

"Please find attached a copy of the letter from the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, which is self-explanatory. We hope and trust that our bid to host the tournament will be successful." ZTA chief executive Karikoga Kaseke confirmed their partnership with Zifa in the project. "Following our meeting with Zifa president Mr Nyatanga on 17 June 2009, we agreed that the 2009 edition of the Cosafa Senior Challenge Tournament should be hosted by Zimbabwe," wrote Kaseke.

"We are glad to confirm that the ZTA will:

• l Facilitate all the visa entry requirements for all the teams coming to participate in the Challenge.

• l Seek accommodation for the participating teams, local transport and training facilities during their stay in the country.

• l Cover for any other requirements by Cosafa in order for the tournament to run smoothly as partners of Zifa.

"We further agreed that:

• l The Authority and Zifa are going to mobilise and co-ordinate with relevant Government departments and the corporate sector to raise resources to finance the tournament;

• l The Authority and Zifa will set up a Local Organising Committee that will be responsible for the preparations of the Challenge tournament (and) this LOC will report to the 2010 Taskforce chaired by Cde (George) Charamba

• l The proposed dates for hosting the tournament are between the end of September 2009 and the beginning of October 2009, meaning that the LOC must get to work immediately.

ZTA and Zifa will make the necessary effort to see that the tournament is a success."

The Cosafa Castle Cup, the flagship tournament of Southern Africa, was bankrolled for 11 years by South African Breweries through their Castle brand and grew into a competitive tourney that became the envy of the continent.

SAB are believed to have poured in more than R200 million into the tournament during their association with the Cosafa Castle Cup.

Along the way, the tournament became a launching pad for the careers of the likes of Zambian striker Collins Mbesuma and has featured such regional stars as Peter Ndlovu, the top goal-scorer in 2003 and 2004, Delron Buckley of South Africa and Akwa of Angola.

Countries that can technically enter the Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup are Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Reunion, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The little island of Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean, has geographically been part of the Comoros, but can technically enter the Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup.

The heavyweights of football in Southern Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Angola have shared honours in the Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup with each country having won the tournament three times.