Equatorial Guinea has been named as the replacement for Tanzania in the COSAFA Cup Zambia 2013 field after the latter were forced to withdraw.

The Taifa Stars became ineligible for the tournament as it clashed with a revised date for their African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifier against Uganda in July.

The East African nation was set to make their second visit to the Southern African regional championship that runs from July 6-20 after appearing in the inaugural tournament in 1997.

But a change in date for their CHAN qualifier has meant there is a clash of schedules and they have had to decline their invitation. Instead their place will be taken by Equatorial Guinea, who played at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations as co-hosts.

Tanzania has pulled out of this year’s Cosafa Cup in Zambia.

Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) spokesman Boniface Wambura told supersport.com that they had opted out due to the Chan qualifiers and Kagame Cup competitions.

“We have decided to pull out of Cosafa because of the scheduled matches we have. It won’t work for us and it won’t be possible.”

“We have Kagame Cup till early July and still have to feature in Chan. The players we will use in the competition mostly come from Simba and Yanga and that will be difficult to juggle because their clubs will expect them to be in Sudan and avail themselves for Chan training.”

South Africa will take a strong squad to July's Cosafa Cup in Zambia after Premier Soccer League clubs agreed to release their best players.

"We will have a competitive team going to Lusaka," said South Africa Football Association CEO Dennis Mumble.

"A meeting with the clubs went well, we were able to find agreement with each other and there were firm commitments.

"Clubs would like to take their players to camp in the off-season, but it's also important we have a strong team."

Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund had made it clear he is keen to take the strongest possible team to the regional championship, which he feels is a prestigious tournament and needs to be taken seriously.

Cosafa president Suketu Patel says Cosafa Cup’s future is very assured after a three year absence.

The Cosafa Cup roars back to life this year for the first time since 2009 after it was put on hold due to operational reasons.

"We have sufficient funds now to host the tournament, maybe not the ideal tournament, but at least it will be a tournament," Patel said in Lusaka after the draws of the 2013 event that Zambia will host from July 6-20.

"For us it is a start of something that we can build on so that in future years it goes on growing."

Host Zambia face Mozambique in Cosafa Cup quarterfinals while Bafana Bafana must wait to know their Last 8 opponents from Group A.

Mozambique, Bafana Bafana, Malawi, Angola, hosts Zambia and defending champions Zimbabwe all enjoy byes from the group stage and will enter the competition at the quarterfinal stage.

Zambia will face Mozambique on July 14 in the fourth quarterfinal match in Kabwe following tournament draws made on May 3 in Lusaka.

Bafana will face winner from Group A on July 13 in Lusaka that contains Namibia, Mauritius, Seychelles and guest team from the Cecafa zone, Tanzania.

Bafana Bafana, Angola, champions Zimbabwe and hosts Zambia seeded and on first round byes in the May 3 COSAFA Cup draws.

And CECAFA zone nations Tanzania and Kenya have been invited to take part in this year’s COSAFA Cup to be held in Zambia from July 6-21.

According to Cosafa, Zambia, Bafana, Zimbabwe, Angola, Malawi and Mozambique will all enjoy group stage byes and join the competition in the quarterfinals on July 13 thanks to their FIFA rankings as of April 11, 2013.

Meanwhile, guest teams Tanzania and Kenya are the seeded teams in the group draws.

Eight teams will go into Fridays two group draws for preliminary round matches to be played at Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka and Godfrey 'Ucar' Chitalu Stadium in Kabwe.

With the Cosafa Senior Challenge coming back to action in July in Zambia the participating countries have confirmed that they will take part.

Cosafa has 14 members and they have all confirmed that they will travel to the 2012 Afcon Champions for the tournament.

The Cosafa Senior Challenge tournament has not been played in the past three years and Zambia will host the tournament in two areas, Lusaka and the Copperbelt from July 6-21, 2013.

A Cosafa delegation, led by COO Sue Destombes, was in Zambia last week to inspect facilities ahead of the competition. Cosafa approved Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka and Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola as the two host stadia for the tournament.

A delegation from Cosafa is in the country for meetings with Faz and government as well as to inspect proposed venues and other facilities for the 2013 Cosafa Senior Challenge.

Zambia will host the regional football championship which returns to action after an absence of nearly five years.

The regional soccer governing body delegation comprises Chief Operating Officer Sue Destombes and Cosafa Match Organising Committee member Baba Malephane who is also a member of the Lesotho Football Association.

The delegation held a meeting with Faz officials who were led by General Secretary and CEO George Kasengele, Head of Competitions Julio Chiluba, Finance Manager Sam Phiri, Referees Manager Katongo Kabungo and Communications Manager Erick Mwanza.

The 2013 edition of the Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup will he hosted by Zambia in July, with the regional football body now in the final stages of organising the event. 

The Council of Southern Africa Football Association (Cosafa) tells KickOff.com that the once popular tournament – which was abandoned in 2009 mainly due to lack of sponsorship – will be held in Lusaka and Ndola.

“The tournament will be held in Lusaka and probably Ndola in July this year. More details will be confirmed,” Sue Destombes, Cosafa chief operating officer, tells KickOff.com.

Cosafa has already signed a broadcasting deal with the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) for the tournament.

The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has secured two more international friendly matches for the Chipolopolo against Namibia and Swaziland in readiness for the team’s title defence at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa next month.

Both friendly matches would be played in Nelspruit, South Africa with the match against Namibia set to be the last game before the AFCON tournament kicks off on January 19.

The two friendly matches bring to five the number of games the Chipolopolo will play between December 22 this year and January 15 next year.