The 2017 Cosafa format not good

(www.wikipedia.com)

The 2017 Castle Cosafa format is bad and unfair. The thinking behind the idea of denying other players game-time is unclear. 

The Fifa ranking used byes should have been used for group seeding. As it is, lower ranked teams like Zimbabwe, Angola, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles and Madagascar come and play 3 matches. 

Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa, Zambia and Namibia join in at a later, play 90 minutes and go home, if unlucky. 

A nation must not prepare, camp and travel for a single match, because as seeded teams, they only play quarter finals.

Few players come in as substitutes, play 10 or 5 minutes, lose and go home, just like that. To be fair and for developmental purposes, all teams must play group stages.

Those 10/15 minute players do not have an opportunity to showcase their talents. They come to the tournament looking to audition for the Absa Premier League showcase. Eve though their national teams are ranked higher, coaches get a chance to see more of the unseeded team players. 

Most players want to play more. There is no incentive to be highly ranked if it means playing less. Hopefully, the organisers will have a look and see if their format can be made to benefit all equally. It could be cost related, but then rather compromise on the overall prize money.

Seeded teams can win it after 3 matches, while the qualifiers need 6 matches to win it. These have an advantage of having warmed up to the finals long enough, though burn out and fatigue due to short recovery periods between matches can be counter-productive.

What has been your Cosafa moment so far?