An age-cheating scandal has rocked the ongoing CAF African Schools Championship in Malawi.
Malawi’s Malindi Secondary School girls’ team has been docked points from its two CAF African Schools Championship games due to an age-cheating scandal.
TWO INELIGIBLE PLAYERS
Malindi breached the rules at the COSAFA qualifiers for the continental schools’ competition underway at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
Organisers say Malindi featured two ineligible players in Saturday’s games against South Africa’s Edendale Technical and Seychelles’ Anse Boileau.
The organisers have since awarded the points to Edendale and Boileau for the losses they suffered to Malindi.
“Those sides will be given the three points from each of those fixtures, but there is no award of goals,” Cosafa says.
“The competition organising committee is of the view that this was a simple misinterpretation of the regulations.”
WHAT RULES SAY
A statement from Cosafa says according to the competition’s regulations, all players must be a maximum of 15 years old by the end of the calendar year in which the final competition is played.
There were no details provided on the identities of the overaged players in question.
Malindi defeated Edendale Technical 1-0, with Victoria Mkwala on target in the Group A encounter.
Mkwala had also scored a double in Malindi’s opening 5-0 win over Boileau on Saturday.
The two wins pushed Malindi to the semifinal of the five-day competition involving Southern Africa schools.
ADVANTAGE FOR SOUTH AFRICA TEAM
Now, Edendale Technical are favourites for the championship going into Monday’s two final round-robin matches.
Cosafa says Edendale just need a draw against Mothamo JSS from Botswana to take top spot.
The South Africans will finish first, even in defeat, if Boileau doesn’t beat GS Ningha from Comoros in their final game.
The boys’ category is now getting to its business end, with South Africa’s Clapham High taking on Rosina of Angola in Monday morning’s semifinal.
The other semifinal will involve Salima Secondary School of Malawi hosting IQRA School from Comoros in the semifinal.
Salima Secondary and Rosinha topped their pools after beating Ile Perseverance 4-0 before sharing the spoils at 1-1 with Clapham.
Each team on the pitch will consist of eight players, and matches last 40 minutes, two periods of 20 minutes separated by a 10-minute break.
There are unlimited substitutions, meaning coaches can keep rotating the players they have on the pitch.
The total prize money in the first year is US$4 million, according to the Cosafa website.
The amount will be allocated from the US$10 million donation from the Motsepe Foundation.
The prize money for the winning boys’ school and the winning girls’ school are the same.
MONDAY’S FIXTURES COURTESY OF COSAFA
BOYS
5th/6th Play-Off
09h00 CAT – Ile Perseverance (Seychelles) vs Thamaga JSS (Botswana)
Semifinals
10h00 CAT – Salima Secondary (Malawi) vs IQRA School (Comoros)
10h00 CAT – Rosinha (Angola) vs Clapham High (South Africa)
3rd/4th Play-Off
12h00 CAT – Loser SF1 vs Loser SF2
Final
13h00 CAT – Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2
