Dar es Salaam. The national soccer team, Taifa Stars, will compete in this year’s Cosafa Cup scheduled for May in South Africa, the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) has disclosed.The tournament, organised by the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA), returns after a one-year hiatus due to operational reasons.TFF information officer, Baraka Kizuguto, confirmed yesterday that Taifa Stars would honour an invitation by the Southern Africa football governing body to compete in the tournament as a guest team.”Draws for the 2015 Cosafa Cup will be made in Johannesburg tonight (last night). South Africa will host the tournament in the North-West Province from May 17-31,” the TFF official said.Just like the revamped format of the 2013 edition hosted by Zambia, this year’s tournament will also include a Plate final for the losing quarterfinalists.Reports from Johannesburg, South Africa had it yesterday that 12 teams will go into the draw with the top four regional nations on the FIFA rankings handed quarterfinal byes.The draws will not include Comoros who have declined to participate yet again in the championship, while Angola are yet to confirm their participation.”The regional senior championship is a crucial component for the development of football in Southern Africa. “We are delighted to be staging the event in South Africa this year and using the world-class facilities of the North West province,” Cosafa president, Suketu Patel was quoted as saying from Johannesburg yesterday.He added: “We already have the necessary resources to make sure that the tournament takes place.”We had a traumatic 2014 trying to get the championship running after such a successful tournament in Zambia in 2013. We did not anticipate the difficulties. But it is not only with great relief that we can look forward to a 2015 tournament but also with great assurance.”We will look to make it a successful tournament both on and off the pitch and re-establish our contribution to make Cosafa the strongest region in African football.”Zambia are the defending champions after beating Zimbabwe 2-0 in the final on July 20, 2013 at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola.Zimbabwe and Zambia are joint record winner of the tournament with four titles. South Africa and Angola have three win each.The other countries lined up for the championship include Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles and Swaziland.