The Malawi under 17 National Football team will regroup on Friday to start camping in preparation for the 2019 COSAFA Under 17 Youth Championship.

Coach Deklerk Nsakakuona has called 30 players for the full time residential camp training at the Mpira Village in Blantyre ahead of the tournament which Malawi is hosting next month.

Nsakakuona has added 10 more players to the 20-man squad that went to Tanzania for the Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools Sports Associations (FEASSSA) games last month.

The team will remain in camp until the start of the tournament on 11th October.

FAM technical Director John Kaputa says they have jointly with the Malawi Schools Sports Association (MASSA), put in place a programme which has incorporated academic activities to keep the players abreast with their studies.

“All the players are now registered with MASSA and have been provided with text and note books as per their classes and we will now work on allocating teachers for academic sessions in between the training sessions,” said Kaputa.

Meanwhile, Botswana under 17 side has pulled out from the tournament for fear of disturbing their players as the academic calendar is in progress.

Malawi last won the cup after beating South Africa 3-0 in 2001.