* The tournament has helped the country in many ways including the technical aspect of the game
* It helped build capacity of referees, team doctors and administrators through training sessions
By McDonald Dawala, correspondent
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has been applauded for hosting 2024 CAF Women Champions League-COSAFA qualifier, saying the tournament has helped develop the country’s women’s football in many ways including the technical aspect of the game.
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In an interview, veteran sports journalist and football analyst, Peter Kanjere emphasised that the tournament “has surely helped build capacity of referees, team doctors and administrators through training sessions on the sidelines of the tournament”.
“Referees received training in [technical aspects of] video assistant referees VAR,” he said, adding that even FAM itself also drew some lessons by hosting the event.
“The players and coaches have received valuable exposure to the rigours of international football in terms of the importance of tactics and good conditioning of players.”
Fans turned out in impressive numbers at Mpira Stadium to support the hosts Ascent Academy — creating an electric atmosphere throughout the tournament making it a resounding success.
In the terraces was a dominant figure giving moral support to Ascent Soccer, Blantyre City Deputy Mayor, Isaac Jomo Osman, who also praised FAM for hosting the tournament, saying it has brought the positive impacts on Malawi football as well as the country’s economy.
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“When we are talking about development we need to talk about football,” he said. “Businesses flourished around Mpira Stadium and its sorrounding areas during this tournament.
“Our country is facing a lot of challenges in terms of forex, so this tournament came brought in forex which will help our country’s economy.”
Aaron Musa, a fan who attended most of the matches applauded COSAFA for bringing the tournament to Malawi, saying: “It’s exciting to see teams from other countries play in Malawi and I hope other tournaments will follow suit. Thanks to COSAFA administrators for bringing the tournament to Malawi.”
South Africa’s University of Western Cape (UWC) won the tile by beating Botswana’s Gaborone Stars 9-8 on post-match penalties after the match ended 1-1.
Apart from exposing Malawian women football, the tournament also gave the other seven participating teams an international experience as five were appearing for the first time — the hosts Ascent Soccer; the eventual winners, UWC; Herentals Queens (Zimbabwe); Gaborone United (Botswana) and Mozambique’s União Desportiva de Lichinga.
The other teams were Young Buffaloes (eSwatini), Green Buffaloes (Zambia) and FC Ongos (Namibia).
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By winning the COSAFA title, UWC joins TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Nigeria’s Edo Queens for the CAF Women’s Champions League finals to be played later this year.
This follows the conclusion of the regional qualifiers of the Central African Football Federations’ Union (UNIFFAC) and West African Football Union (WAFU) and still ongoing is the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) qualifiers and the Union of North African Football (UNAF).—Editing by Maravi Express
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