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Eight teams confirmed for maiden Cosafa Women's Champions League

The Council of Southern African Football Associations has announced eight teams will participate in the inaugural Cosafa Women's Champions League later this year.

In February, Cosafa had announced the introduction of a women's clubs championship for the region, following the move of Caf to launch its Women's Champions League in 2021.

And on Monday, Cosafa confirmed that eight out of 14 countries will play in the maiden edition of the Southern Africa region this summer, with no decision reached yet about the possible host nation.

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The eight clubs are Botswana's Prisons XI, Eswatini's Manzini Wanderers LFC, Lesotho's Defense Force, Mozambique's Costa Do Sol, Namibia's Tura Magic FC, South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies FC, Zambia's Green Buffaloes and Zimbabwe's Black Rhino.

In a letter to Cosafa nations, it reads: "Following previous correspondence on the above subject and the deadline set to confirm participation, we are pleased to advise that there will be 8 (eight) participating teams in this Inaugural Cosafa Women’s Champions League (CWCL) namely: 

"Prisons XI (Botswana) Manzini Wanderers LFC (Eswatini) Lesotho Defense Force (Lesotho) Costa Do Sol (Mozambique) Tura Magic FC (Namibia) Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies FC (South Africa) Green Buffaloes Women FC (Zambia) Black Rhino Queens FC (Zimbabwe).
 
"We are now finalizing the hosting association as well as the timing (either June or August 2021) and will advise further in due course on the relevant logistics as well as the regulations." 

In the build-up to the competition, Cosafa general secretary Sue Destombes had shared her excitement about launching the women's club event in the sub-region.

"The highlight must be the introduction of the regional Women’s Champions League, which will be a zonal qualifier for the new Caf Women’s Champions League which is coming later this year," 

“We will be looking to roll it out between May and August, which will contain a preliminary round and then a final tournament. We are extremely excited about this new competition."

The 2021 Women's Champions League will be held between November and December, with seven teams qualifying through zonal qualifiers, including Cosafa joining the winner of the host nation.

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