Tura Magic Football Club (FC) were given a tough draw in the inaugural Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) Women’s Champions League draw, which took place on Thursday in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The serial Namibian champions were drawn against top-seeded team Green Buffaloes of Zambia and Black Rhino Queens of Zimbabwe in the three-team Group B.
The top two teams in each pool will advance to the semi-finals.
In Group A, South African champions Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies are the seeded team and will play Lesotho Defence Force, Double Action Ladies from Botswana, and Eswatini’s Manzini Wanderers.
The tournament will take place from 26 August to 04 September at Nelson Mandela Bay, and will be followed immediately by the Cosafa Women’s Championship that will take place from 09-19 September at the same venue.
There are seven teams competing in the first edition of the tournament, and the teams will be hoping to win a place at the Total CAF Women’s Champions League later this year.
Meanwhile, Magic FC chairman Isack Hamata said they are going to the tournament to compete.
“Our opponents are strong teams and if you look at Zambia participating at the ongoing Olympic Games, this tells you that something is happening in women’s football there. We will meet and discuss how we move forward now that we know whom we are going to play,” he said.
He added that they are also monitoring President Hage Geingob’s anticipated announcement on Friday regarding the COVID-19 regulations update.
“This will determine how we prepare for the tournament. The girls have been keeping fit all by themselves because of the current restrictions on contact sport, we will now look at our options as informed by the pending presidential update,” he added.
Speaking at the draw, Cosafa general secretary Sue Destombes said the Cosafa Women’s Champions League has been on the radar for a while, and paid tribute to CAF for implementing a Champions League competition for women and doing the qualifiers at a zonal level.
Destombes added that they hope to have all the 14 member associations to participate in next year’s tournament.
Source: Namibia Press Agency
