Council of Southern Africa Football Associations

What Council of Southern Africa Football Associations does

The Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) is a regional football confederation founded in 1983 in Malawi under the Supreme Council of Sports in Africa — Zone 6, headquartered administratively in Johannesburg/Randburg, South Africa, with a Secretariat hosted in Botswana since 1992. It is a zonal union under the governance of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), uniting 14 member national associations — Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe — plus one associate member (Reunion). COSAFA's core function is regional football governance: staging sanctioned tournaments, qualifying national teams and clubs for CAF competitions, and running referee, coaching, and medical development programs.

COSAFA's product portfolio covers men's and women's football across senior, Under-20, and Under-17 categories, plus Beach Soccer and the regional Women's Champions League qualifier. Flagship assets include the COSAFA Cup (staged since 1997, described by FIFA as the best regional football competition in the world) and the COSAFA Women's Championship. Supporting the competitions are development pillars in coaching, medical and anti-doping education, and referee training — including a pioneering VAR technology rollout and a multi-day VAR Referees Workshop. Distribution is handled through COSAFA TV, The COSAFA Show podcast, FIFA+ global streaming, and an active social media presence on Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram. Tournament hosting is conducted across member-country venues including Toyota Stadium, Peter Mokaba Stadium, Hage Geingob Stadium, and UNAM Stadium.

Revenue mechanics are not disclosed in the source data but are inferred to combine title sponsorship (notably Hollywoodbets for the COSAFA Cup), FIFA+ and CAF broadcasting arrangements, member association dues, event hosting rights, and capacity-building grants. Governance is structured through an Executive Committee led by President Artur de Almeida e Silva (elected 2022, Angola) and Executive Director Sue Destombes, supported by standing committees across Legal, Referees, Competitions, Women's, Marketing/TV/Commercial, Technical & Development, Finance, and Futsal/Beach Soccer.

Name

Council of Southern Africa Football Associations

Legal name

Council of Southern Africa Football Associations

Website

https://cosafa.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

COSAFA is a Southern African regional football confederation founded in 1983, uniting 14 national associations to organize men's, women's, and youth tournaments, referee and coaching development, and continental qualifying competitions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Regional Football Federation Services

NAICS

Spectator Sports (71121), Spectator Sports (7112), Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Amateur Sport Governing Bodies & Federations (National/Regional) (MPAKACAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Association Football (Soccer) Leagues (MPAKAAAA), National Governing Bodies (NGBs) (MPAKAFAC)

Keywords

• Regional football federation
• Football tournament management
• Referee development programs
• Women's football competitions
• Youth football championships

Headquarters

HQ city

Johannesburg

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

COSAFA is a regional football confederation that organizes and manages multi-national football competitions across Southern Africa for its 14 member national associations plus an associate member (Reunion). Its offering includes senior men's and women's championships, Under-20 and Under-17 youth tournaments, beach soccer, the COSAFA Women's Champions League qualifier for continental play, and development programs covering coaching, refereeing (including pioneering VAR training), medical/anti-doping, and capacity building. Supporting these events are digital media assets such as COSAFA TV's "The COSAFA Show" podcast/video series and live distribution via FIFA+.

Product overview

COSAFA (Council of Southern Africa Football Associations) operates as a regional football governing body that organizes and manages a comprehensive portfolio of football competitions across multiple age groups and categories. The organization's product suite includes the flagship COSAFA Cup for men's senior teams, the COSAFA Women's Championship, youth tournaments for Men's and Women's Under-20 and Under-17 age groups, Beach Soccer competitions, and the COSAFA Women's Champions League qualifier for the continental club competition. Supporting these competitions are digital media platforms including COSAFA TV for streaming and The COSAFA Show podcast series, along with development programs covering coaching, refereeing with VAR technology, medical initiatives, and capacity building.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• COSAFA Cup: Flagship men's football competition first staged in 1997
• COSAFA Women's Championship
• COSAFA Men's Under-20
• COSAFA Women's Under-20
• COSAFA Men's Under-17
• COSAFA Women's Under-17
• COSAFA Women's Champions League
• COSAFA Beach Soccer
• COSAFA TV

Products and services

• COSAFA Cup Flagship senior men's regional football tournament of COSAFA, first staged in 1997 and described by FIFA as the best regional football competition in the world, contested by member national associations.
• COSAFA Women's Championship Senior women's football championship tournament contested by COSAFA member national associations across Southern Africa.
• COSAFA Men's Under-20 Youth tournament for men's under-20 national teams from COSAFA member nations, supporting youth development pathways to senior football.
• COSAFA Women's Under-20 Youth tournament for women's under-20 national teams from COSAFA member nations, supporting the women's player development pathway.
• COSAFA Men's Under-17 Youth tournament for men's under-17 national teams serving as a qualifier for the CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations.
• COSAFA Women's Under-17 Youth tournament for women's under-17 national teams from COSAFA member nations.
• COSAFA Beach Soccer Beach soccer tournament for COSAFA member nations, run under the federation's Futsal & Beach Soccer Committee.
• COSAFA Women's Champions League Regional qualifier tournament for the CAF Women's Champions League, bringing together leading women's clubs from Southern Africa to compete for the continental berth.
• COSAFA TV Digital streaming platform for COSAFA content including The COSAFA Show podcast series, distributing football news, interviews, and tournament updates.

Quantifiable outcome

• Record nine competitions staged across various age-groups in 2024
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• AFCON Organizing Committee: COSAFA competitions serve as zonal qualifiers for Africa Cup of Nations; the AFCON organizing structure is a comparable tournament-operations entity one tier above zonal level.
• Hollywoodbets (Title Sponsor): Title sponsor of the HOLLYWOODBETS COSAFA Cup - representative commercial counterparty in the regional football sponsorship ecosystem; useful as a stakeholder rather than a direct competitor.
• FIFA+ Streaming Platform: Global streaming platform that distributes COSAFA competitions worldwide; illustrates the distribution infrastructure COSAFA relies on for media reach and revenue leverage.

Broad incumbents

• UEFA: European confederation that runs regional and club competitions (Euro, Champions League, Youth League) at much larger scale; a useful comparable for the structural economics of a multi-tiered regional competition portfolio.
• CONMEBOL: South American confederation running Copa América and Copa Libertadores; comparable regional-federation model with strong commercial arm and media rights structure.
• FIFA: Global football governing body that sanctions COSAFA, distributes its content on FIFA+, and provides development funding; the ultimate incumbent in the same governance and tournaments stack.
• Confederation of African Football (CAF): Continental parent body of which COSAFA is a zonal member; comparable as the broader sports-governance organization operating leagues, AFCON, and development programs across a larger footprint.

Direct peers

• UNAF (Union of North African Football): The North African zonal union under CAF, also responsible for regional tournaments across senior and youth categories; provides a geographic complement to COSAFA within the same continental federation structure.
• CECAFA (Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations): Another CAF zonal union covering East and Central Africa with near-identical mandate (senior, U-20, U-17, women's club and senior championships), making it the most product-level comparable to COSAFA.
• WAFU (West African Football Union): Zonal football union for West Africa, structurally and functionally the closest direct peer: it organizes regional competitions (WAFU Cup, U-17, U-20), reports to CAF, and operates the same membership-federation model for a different geographic zone.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/COSAFAMEDIA
• Facebookfacebook.com/COSAFAMEDIA
• Instagraminstagram.com/cosafafootball/?hl=en
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@COSAFAMedia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/council-of-southern-african-football-associations

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Council of Southern Africa Football Associations