Council for Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) has said it will not use recently-introduced Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) testosterone levels tests for players at the Hollywoodbets Women’s Championship which kicks off today in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa.

CAF introduced the tests for female players at its competitions and the new regulation was pioneered at the TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) in Morocco in July.

Zambia’s Barbara Banda missed Wafcon Women’s Cup due to such tests

Players whose testosterone levels are above the requirement for females are asked to take medication to reduce the levels while those that refuse to take the tests are disqualified.

However, Cosafa media officer Lynda Greeff on Tuesday said in an interview that the regional football governing body will not apply the regulation at the tournament.

She said: “Cosafa does not have a regulation governing player eligibility to participate in the Cosafa Women’s Championship apart from being a member of the women’s national team of the participating country and being the holder of a passport of that country.”

The clarification is a relief to the participating teams. Some players at the Wafcon such as Zambia captain Barbara Banda withdrew from the tournament after their testosterone levels were deemed to be higher.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) competitions and communications director Gomezgani Zakazaka in an interview said the association has welcomed Cosafa’s move.

He said: “Given the backlash from member associations on the Barbara Banda incident, it’s commendable that the Cosafa Championship will not use that eligibility condition.”

Soccer analyst Charles Nyirenda said the gender tests regulations risk being construed as targeting certain individuals.

Gender verification has been a controversial issue in football.

According to the Fifa gender verification policy, the rules were introduced to ensure a level playing field and “safeguard” the separation between male and female players.

“Androgenic hormones have performance-enhancing effects which may provide an advantage in football,” the Fifa document states.

Meanwhile, Malawi’s Scorchers will start their campaign at Cosafa Championship against Botswana in Group C on Friday at Madibaz Stadium.

Their second match will be against Comoros three days later before wrapping up the group fixtures against guests and defending champions Tanzania’s Twigas on September 7, according to a statement from Cosafa.

Their last fixture will be a repeat of last edition’s final which saw Twigas grabbing the championship after a narrow 1-0 victory.

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