Four COSAFA teams play ‘home’ matches in SA
Mqondisi Dube | Saturday June 8, 2024 06:00
Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, and Zimbabwe are still battling to put their houses in order and are forced to play their home matches on foreign soil.
All four have found South Africa to be a convenient host. Malawi was the fifth COSAFA member that regularly played its matches in South Africa but has since returned home following CAF’s approval of Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe last year.
Kenya will use the Bingu Stadium in Malawi as the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations finals co-host does not have an approved venue for the World Cup qualifiers. However, it is South Africa that has been the busiest and the biggest beneficiary since CAF introduced stadium ratings and suitability standards.
The stadium predicament facing the four COSAFA nations means there will be eight countries in South Africa, including the hosts in a busy period which started on Wednesday, running up to Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Namibia hosted Liberia at the Orlando Stadium in the first of five fixtures that will be played in South Africa over seven days. The match ended 1-1.
Orlando Stadium in Soweto will again be the venue when Zimbabwe play Lesotho this afternoon. Both teams are without a CAF-approved stadium, and Zimbabwe will be the ‘home’ team. The Botswana Football Association previously indicated its willingness to host the Warriors at the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium, but nothing came to fruition.
The ‘overused’ Orlando Stadium will be the stomping ground on Sunday as Namibia’s Brave Warriors take on Tunisia. On Tuesday, Lesotho will take its home game against Rwanda to the coastal city of Durban, with the picturesque Moses Mabhida Stadium as the venue.
The hosts, South Africa, will finally get into the thick of things when they host Zimbabwe at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on Tuesday. Eswatini will not be in South Africa as they play both their matches away and will only return to Mbombela Stadium in the next round of qualifiers.
CAF is pushing ahead with efforts to ensure there is quality stadia on the continent. Recently, the continental mother body hosted a Stadium Inspectors Workshop in Rabat, Morocco, underscoring the importance of world-class facilities for the growth of African football.“The workshop focused on crucial areas including regulatory frameworks, pitch quality, safety, and media facilities. The training of stadium inspectors is a pivotal step towards ensuring that stadiums meet the required standards for hosting CAF events,” a statement from CAF reads.