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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter

NELSON Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa will host the 2021 Cosafa Cup draw on Thursday.

The 12-team tournament has been earmarked for July 7-18 and is making a return after the 2020 edition was cancelled as part of the regional bloc’s measures to help fight spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The draw will be live on Cosafa’s website www.cosafa.tv from 11am.

Cosafa announced that the competition will take on a new format this year, with the 12 teams being split into three groups of four teams each to ensure each side plays a minimum of three matches.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals and there will be no Plate competition.

Africa’s top ranked nation Senegal will participate in the tournament as guests.

Other teams expected to take part in the competition include Botswana, Comoros Islands, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Madagascar, South Africa, Mauritius and Namibia and Zimbabwe.

The Warriors’ technical team will use the Cosafa Cup tournament to mold a competitive team for the World Cup qualifiers in September, October and November. – @innocentskizoe