What does the word COSAFA mean?

Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (French: Conseil des Associations de Football en Afrique Australe; Portuguese: Conselho das Associações de Futebol da África Austral), officially abbreviated as COSAFA, is an association of the football playing nations in Southern Africa. It is affiliated to CAF.

It brings together 14 nations of Southern Africa under a single umbrella, with the goal of developing the game of football in the region.

This is not just from a playing point of view, but also with respect to referees and the administration of the game. COSAFA was formed in 1983 in Malawi.

The 14 member countries of COSAFA are Angola, Botswana, Comores, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Associate Member Reunion.

Botswana was elected to host the Secretariat of COSAFA. This has been the case since 1992 when Ismail Bhamjee was elected President of COSAFA and Ashford Mamelodi appointed Secretary General.

In 2008, it was decided to open an administrative office in Johannesburg, South Africa which is the hub of the region.

The administration of COSAFA is currently led by its Executive Director, Sue Destombes.

The President of COSAFA is Artur de Almeida e Silva from Angola, who was elected in 2022.

The organization has a number of competitions in the senior, Under-20, and Under-17 age-group, as well as a Beach Soccer tournament and Women’s Champions League.

The flagship men’s event, the COSAFA Cup, was first staged in 1997 and was once described by FIFA as the best regional football competition in the world.