The Fooball Association of Malawi (FAM ) has launched the 2016 Women Under-20 Fifa/FAM Cup at its headquarters in Mpira Village.

The competition will kick off at a later date to be announced and will be played in four cities namely Blantyre, Zomba,Lilongwe and Mzuzu.

Launching the competition, FAM executive committee member Daud Mthantiko reiterated the FAM ‘s commitment to women football development in Malawi.

“We are doing well as we have exported two players to Europe. So we believe that by having many competitions like this one we will develop more exports who will in turn play for the national team and thus helping the national to do well in international competitions,” Mthanthiko said.

National Women Football Association Chairperson, Severia Chalira revealed that the competition has helped to develop players since its inception in 2013.

“Last year we tried to change the format and opened it to elite teams but we have decided to go back to the initial concept of Under 20 after noticing that we had killed the main development competition we had.

“In our last international match again Tanzania last November, half of the team were graduates of this competition that is why we decided to bring it back,” said Chalira.

Composation and Format

The teams will be divided into groups of four teams and will play in a round robin with group winners qualifying for the semifinals. The winner of each city will qualify for the national final to be played in January.

The winners at city level will get K500, 000, runner up K300, 000 and K150, 000 for third placed team. top goal scorer will get K30, 000.

At national level champions will get K1million while runners will take home K500, 000 with the two semifinalist getting K250, 000 each. Top goal scorer will get K50,000.

(Additional information:FAM)