Cosafa has named Equatorial Guinea as the replacement for Tanzania in the 2013 edition of the regional championship to be hosted by Zambia further extending its catchment beyond Southern Africa.
The Taifa Stars pulled out of the tournament as it clashed with a revised date for their African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifier against Uganda in July.
Tanzania was set to make their second visit to the Southern African regional championship that runs from July 6-20 after appearing in the inaugural tournament in 1997.
The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations co-hosts were an unusual choice but will broaden the appeal of the tournament.
“We are disappointed to lose Tanzania for this event because they are an exciting team which has achieved a lot in the last few years. But we understand their reasons and wish them well in their CHAN qualifier. We are, however, delighted to have Equatorial Guinea as part of the field. They will add another exciting element to the competition,” says COSAFA President, Suketu Patel.
Equatorial Guinea will take Tanzania’s place in Group A alongside Namibia, Mauritius and Seychelles.
There will be another East African guest nation at the tournament though with Kenya set to take part in Group B alongside Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland.
The COSAFA Cup makes a return to the international football calendar for the first time in four years after the last event that was staged and won by Zimbabwe in 2009.
Zimbabwe heads the honours list with four titles, while Zambia, South Africa and Angola have three each. They are the only countries to have won the event.
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