COSAFA has announced that the 2021 Men’s Under-20 Championship which waa to be held in Eswatini from December 10-18 has been postponed to 2022 to allow more of its Member Associations to compete.

Eswatini will remain hosts of the event next year, which will serve as a qualifier for the 2023 TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations. The dates for the COSAFA tournament will be determined in due course.

The Championship was to be the last of seven events staged by COSAFA this year, but several operational factors have made a postponement necessary, not least the travel chaos caused by the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

COSAFA say that the pandemic has already depleted the field for the Boys and Girls Under-17 football competitions at the Region 5 Games Maseru 2020 that is currently underway in Lesotho, and it is likely to have had the same impact on the Under-20 competition.

“We are desperately disappointed for the players and teams, as well as the Eswatini Football Association, who had agreed to be our hosts, and are far down the line with required preparations,” says COSAFA General Secretary Sue Destombes.

“It is a huge shame for a competition that has been played annually since 2016 and provided such an excellent platform for our young players in the region to showcase their talent and be seen by scouts.

“But we are excited to be in Eswatini in 2022 for the Zonal Qualifier for the continental finals, which will certainly provide added spice to what has been an excellent competition down the years.”