The COSAFA CUP Zambia 2013 makes a welcome return to the global football calendar after a three-year absence with the 2013 edition to be staged in Zambia from July 6-21.
The tournament sees Africa's favourite beer, Castle Lager, renew its partnership with the regional showpiece after being headline sponsors of the event from 1997 to 2007 and Bafana Bafana for 20 years.
The 2013 tournament is being played at three venues in Lusaka, Ndola and Kabwe and features 14 competing nations with two guest countries from the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) region in the field.
"We are delighted to renew our partnership with Cosafa and further our shared aim of uplifting football in the Southern African region. We have long acknowledged the key role that the Castle COSAFA CUP plays in the uplifting the game in Southern Africa. We are delighted too that the tournament will be staged in Zambia in 2013, a country of key importance to the Castle Lager brand and to Southern African football, as our beloved Bafana Bafana joins the giants today we believe it will help spark interest back into regional football and excite Superfans across Southern Africa" says Alastair Hewitt, SAB Ltd's GM: Castle Lager & Sponsorships.
The Council of Southern African Football Association (COSAFA) countries who will take part in the COSAFA CUP Zambia 2013 are Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
They will be joined by Kenya and Tanzania from CECAFA in what is an exciting field for this prestigious event.
"We are delighted with the entrants for the return of the COSAFA CUP Zambia 2013 this July. The return of our showpiece regional competition is long overdue and we are excited at the prospect of once again seeing the best players from the Southern African region compete for the title," says Cosafa President Suketu Patel.
The tournament format will be the same as in last event staged in Zimbabwe in 2009, with the eight lowest ranked teams according to the April 2013 FIFA World Rankings playing a round robin competition.
The eight sides will be split into two pools of four sides, with just the group winners advancing to the knockout stages. There they will be joined by the top six nations according to the rankings, who receive a bye into the quarterfinals.
The eight nations who will appear in today's draw for the pool stages are East African guests Tanzania (ranked 33rd in Africa in the April 2013 FIFA World Rankings) and Kenya (34), along with Botswana (36), Namibia (37), Lesotho (41), Swaziland (46), Mauritius (48) and Seychelles (51).
Madagascar and the Comoros Islands have withdrawn from this year's competition.
That means the six nations who will automatically advance to the quarterfinals are Zambia (7), South Africa (11), Angola (25), Zimbabwe (28), Mozambique (30) and Malawi (32).
The tournament will then follow a traditional knockout format after that, with matches being decided by extra time and/or penalty shoot-out if no winner can be determined in normal time.
The Castle COSAFA CUP was first played in 1997 as a regional championship for Southern African sides. Zimbabwe heads the honours list with four titles, while Zambia, South Africa and Angola have three each. They are the only countries to have won the event.
This year's tournament will also be used to promote COSAFA's partnership with United Against Malaria (UAM).
UAM was founded ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa as an alliance of football teams, celebrities, health and advocacy organisations, governments and corporations who have united together to help eradicate the spread of malaria.
The disease disproportionately affects the poor and vulnerable, primarily young children and pregnant women in Africa who are more likely to be exposed to infection due to lower immunity levels and have the most limited access to malaria prevention, treatment, and control measures.
The COSAFA CUP Zambia 2013 makes a welcome return to the global football calendar after a three-year absence with the 2013 edition to be staged in Zambia from July 6-21.
The tournament sees Africa's favourite beer, Castle Lager, renew its partnership with the regional showpiece after being headline sponsors of the event from 1997 to 2007 and Bafana Bafana for 20 years.
The 2013 tournament is being played at three venues in Lusaka, Ndola and Kabwe and features 14 competing nations with two guest countries from the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) region in the field.
"We are delighted to renew our partnership with Cosafa and further our shared aim of uplifting football in the Southern African region. We have long acknowledged the key role that the Castle COSAFA CUP plays in the uplifting the game in Southern Africa. We are delighted too that the tournament will be staged in Zambia in 2013, a country of key importance to the Castle Lager brand and to Southern African football, as our beloved Bafana Bafana joins the giants today we believe it will help spark interest back into regional football and excite Superfans across Southern Africa" says Alastair Hewitt, SAB Ltd's GM: Castle Lager & Sponsorships.
The Council of Southern African Football Association (COSAFA) countries who will take part in the COSAFA CUP Zambia 2013 are Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
They will be joined by Kenya and Tanzania from CECAFA in what is an exciting field for this prestigious event.
"We are delighted with the entrants for the return of the COSAFA CUP Zambia 2013 this July. The return of our showpiece regional competition is long overdue and we are excited at the prospect of once again seeing the best players from the Southern African region compete for the title," says Cosafa President Suketu Patel.
The tournament format will be the same as in last event staged in Zimbabwe in 2009, with the eight lowest ranked teams according to the April 2013 FIFA World Rankings playing a round robin competition.
The eight sides will be split into two pools of four sides, with just the group winners advancing to the knockout stages. There they will be joined by the top six nations according to the rankings, who receive a bye into the quarterfinals.
The eight nations who will appear in today's draw for the pool stages are East African guests Tanzania (ranked 33rd in Africa in the April 2013 FIFA World Rankings) and Kenya (34), along with Botswana (36), Namibia (37), Lesotho (41), Swaziland (46), Mauritius (48) and Seychelles (51).
Madagascar and the Comoros Islands have withdrawn from this year's competition.
That means the six nations who will automatically advance to the quarterfinals are Zambia (7), South Africa (11), Angola (25), Zimbabwe (28), Mozambique (30) and Malawi (32).
The tournament will then follow a traditional knockout format after that, with matches being decided by extra time and/or penalty shoot-out if no winner can be determined in normal time.
The Castle COSAFA CUP was first played in 1997 as a regional championship for Southern African sides. Zimbabwe heads the honours list with four titles, while Zambia, South Africa and Angola have three each. They are the only countries to have won the event.
This year's tournament will also be used to promote COSAFA's partnership with United Against Malaria (UAM).
UAM was founded ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa as an alliance of football teams, celebrities, health and advocacy organisations, governments and corporations who have united together to help eradicate the spread of malaria.
The disease disproportionately affects the poor and vulnerable, primarily young children and pregnant women in Africa who are more likely to be exposed to infection due to lower immunity levels and have the most limited access to malaria prevention, treatment, and control measures.
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