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Cosafa Beach Soccer tourney shifted to September

Cosafa Beach Soccer tourney shifted to September

Council for Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) has shifted 2025 Beach Soccer Championship dates from April to September this year.

Initially, the tournament was scheduled for April 1 to 6 at a venue to be announced.

Football Association of Malawi (Fam) General Secretary Alfred Gunda confirmed the development Wednesday.

Alfred Gunda

“Cosafa will advise on the dates but, indeed, the initial ones will not be possible as they are still looking at potential sponsors and host,” Gunda said.

Malawi returned to the Cosafa Beach Soccer Championship last year, nine years after they participated in the inaugural event in Seychelles in 2015, when they won silver following a 9-4 loss to Madagascar in the decider.

The team won bronze during last year’s Cosafa Beach Soccer championship following a 5-4 victory over Saudi Arabia at South Beach Arena, Durban, in South Africa.

Morocco won the tournament after beating Mozambique 4-3 on post-match penalties after a 4-4 stalemate in regulation time.

Beach Soccer Association (BSA) President Force Ngwira said he was also aware of the changes.

“We got communication from Fam; as such, we are waiting for the actual dates,” Ngwira said.

During the 2024 edition, Malawi registered a 4-2 victory over hosts South Africa but lost 5-1 to Saudi Arabia in the group stage before thrashing Seychelles 7-2.

But they crashed out of the tournament following a 9-6 loss to Morocco in the semi-final.

Last year, Malawi also qualified for the 2024 TotalEnergies Beach Soccer African Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals after beating Burundi 15-14 on aggregate in a two-legged tie.

During the finals in Egypt, Malawi finished on position seven following a 6-5 victory over Tanzania.

Malawi also qualified for the 2022 Beach Soccer Afcon finals in Vilankulo, Mozambique.