The emergence of the Omicron variant and subsequent travel difficulties associated with it have forced more changes to the fixtures for the Boys’ and Girls’ football competitions at the Region 5 Games Maseru 2020.

The tournaments have already been hit by a number of withdrawals, with Zimbabwe (Boys & Girls), Seychelles (Boys) and Comoros (Girls) the latest to pull out over travel issues.

It means both competitions have been shortened, with the Boys to run from December 1-7 and the Girls from Dec 2-6.

The Boys’ competition now has six teams, who will be split into two pools each containing three sides.

Botswana and Malawi will open the competition on Wednesday with a Group B clash at 13h00 CAT, followed by hosts Lesotho against Zambia in Group A at 15h30.

Angola play their Group B opener on Saturday against Botswana (15h30), while Eswatini enter the competition on the same day with a Group A clash against Zambia at 15h30.

The top two teams in each pool advance to the semifinals, which will be played next Tuesday, with the final later in the day at 18h00.

The Girls’ competition is now a single three-team pool involving Zambia, Botswana and Namibia, with the tournament to be played in a round-robin format where each nation meets the other. The teams that finish in the top two positions will contest a final on Monday.