Regulations for football competitions at the Region 5 Games

The football competitions at the Region 5 Games Lilongwe 2022 will be staged between December 1-12, where the boys will also contest in the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations | COSAFA Qualifier.
The regulations for both the Boys and the Girls tournaments are the same, and we give you a rundown of the key aspects below.

Deciding group standings
Group standings are decided in the first instance by the number of points a team has obtained in all games.

If two teams are level on points, then the first tiebreaker is number of points obtained in matches between them, ie the head-to-head rule.

After that it is down to the goal difference in all group matches and then the greatest number of goals scored in all matches.

If they still cannot be separated, then the following are applied in this order until there is a clear front-runner.

  • The goal difference in all group matches
  • A drawing of lots conducted by the Organising Committee

If more than two teams finish on the same number of points, then the following is applied:

  • The greatest number of points obtained in the matches between the teams concerned
  • The goal difference in the matches between the teams concerned
  • The greatest number of goals scored in the matches between the teams concerned

If after applying criteria, two teams are still equal, the criteria are again applied to matches played between the two teams in question to determine the final ranking of the two teams. If this procedure does not allow classifying them, the criteria listed below will be applied in this order:

  • The goal difference in all group matches
  • The highest number of goals scored in all group matches
  • A drawing of lots conducted by the Organizing Committee

 

Best-placed runner-up
The best runner-up position will be determined according to the criteria, in the order given below:

  • Highest number of points the teams concerned obtained in the group matches.
  • Superior goal difference the teams concerned had in the group matches.
  • Higher number of goals the teams concerned scored in group matches.
  • Fair play conduct of the teams concerned in terms of yellow or red cards accumulated in group matches.


Semifinal line-up
The semifinal line-up will be as follows:

Winner Group B vs Winner Group C
Winner Group A vs Best 2nd Place

In the event that the Best Second positioned team is from Group A, the Organising Committee may, at its discretion, alter the fixtures accordingly.

 

Extra-time/penalties
Only the final will have extra-time, if teams are level after 90 minutes in the semifinals or third-place play-off, the contest will go straight to post-match penalties to determine a winner.

 

Disciplinary
If a player collects two yellow cards at the tournament, they are automatically suspended for the next game. A player sent off will also automatically miss the next game.

However, yellow cards fall away at the completion of the group phase with the exception of a second caution being given in the last match of the pool phase which will attract a suspension for the next match. Red cards do not fall away.

 

Age limits – Boys’ & Girls’ competition
Upper age limit: all players must be a maximum of 17 years old by the end of the calendar year in which the final competition is played (i.e. all players of the teams were born on or after 1 January 2006).

Lower age limit: all players must be at least 15 years old by the end of the calendar year in which the final competition is played (i.e. all players of the teams were born on or before 31 December 2008).

 

Number of substitutes – Boys’ competition
For the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations | COSAFA Qualifier, a maximum of three substitutes may be used during matches, as per CAF regulations

Number of substitutes – Girls’ competition
For the COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship, a maximum of five substitutes may be used during matches.