Cosafa competition’s boss, Timothy Shongwe, has played downed security fears at the upcoming tournament due to recent xenophobic attacks in host country South Africa.

The Cosafa Cup is returning after a year’s hiatus with Ghana set to feature as guests but concerns have been raised about possible security threats as parts of South Africa has witnessed some locals attacking foreign nationals in order to get them to leave the country – the widely condemned act has claimed quite a number of lives.

But Shongwe has played down these fears suggesting that the venues – Moruleng and Rustenburg, in the North West province which will host the May 17-30 regional tournament are not troubled areas. He however assures there are security plans being undertaken to ensure a successful competition.

“Some of the plans are being together, mostly driven by the security of our host country [South Africa] – of which some of the details of the plans are not made public. There are security meetings being held.

“As organisers we believe that we should not have [security] problems at the Cosafa Cup tournament,” he told Kessben FM in Kumasi.

“Mind you, the North West [province] is not in Durban or Johannesburg. Having said that, we will make sure that you guys [Ghana] and every African that comes to participate in the Cosafa Cup is safe and sound and will return home safely.”

Ghana will enter the competition from the quarterfinal stage and will face the winner of Group B at the 20 000-seat Moruleng Stadium on May 24.