The Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) has confirmed the introduction of participation fees for member countries to take part in their competitions.
According to a statement posted on their website monitored by the ZamFoot Crew, COSAFA members agreed to the fees back in January during a General Assembly.
The fees have been necessitated by the challenging economic times brought about by COVID-19, and the fact that COSAFA is yet to secure a sponsor for these some competitions.
“COSAFA has noted several media reports around the issue of a Participation Fee that members will pay to play at some of our tournaments this year, and would like to place on record the facts:
- A Participation Fee amount of US$20,000 will be required for member associations to compete in the 2021 COSAFA Cup. A fee of US$10,000 will be levied for the inaugural Women’s Champions League and Futsal competitions.
- The Participation Fees were approved by all member associations at the COSAFA General Assembly that was held in Johannesburg in January 2021.
- The Participation Fees will be used to fund the organizing and delivery of the COSAFA Cup and Futsal tournaments, which are not covered by development funds from the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The Women’s Champions League is partly covered by development funds, but not enough to stage the event without additional financial support.
- Our member associations are of the view that the benefits to the development of players, coaches,s, and referees through COSAFA events outweigh the cost of the Participation Fees.
- In these challenging economic times brought about by COVID-19, we have not managed to secure a sponsor for these three competitions yet. Should a sponsor(s) be signed and the revenue sufficient to cover the costs of the events, the Participation Fees will not be levied, or if already paid, will be refunded.
- The COSAFA leadership remains committed to finding sponsors for all our tournaments and is in constant engagement with potential partners, but we must also recognize the challenge COVID-19 has brought for many sectors across the region.
- COSAFA did apply for COVID-19 relief funding last year, but as we are a zone within CAF and are not direct members of FIFA, our application was not successful.
- The Participation Fees for these three events will remain in place until such a time as long-term sponsors can be found for these properties.
