22 team league constitutional – Kashala

SUN SPORTS writes THE Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has no intention of restructuring the current number of teams participating in either the Super League or Division One. Speaking when he featured on ZNBC TV1 Sport On show, FAZ Secretary General Adrian Kashala said the league structure is premised on the FAZ Costitution.“Let me make this particular issue clear, that is a constitutional matter, we cannot just change it (number of teams) overnight. If that was the case we would have to go to the council and ask them to make amendments to the constitution,” Kashala said. “As we speak we have the number of clubs defined in the constitution so it is not something we can just wake up and say we want to increase or reduce the number of clubs in the Super League.”The FAZ General Secretary said promotions to the National Division One will be held through play-offs with teams organized in two five-member groups. Several stakeholders have called for adjustments to the number of participating teams in the Super League following the abrupt end to the 2019/20 season. Kashala said FAZ respected its constitution and would only tinker with it through the legal provisions. Meanwile the football boss has outlined the plans for the Provincial leagues. “We will call upon provincial champions in all the 10 provinces to send a representative from each club to a draw on how we are going to group them. We will have five teams camped either in Lusaka or Central and other teams will be camped in Ndola. The two teams that will top their groups will be the ones that will be promoted to the National Division One,” he said. And in response to concerns about the unplayed fixtures by NakambalaLeopards, Kashala said the Mazabuka-based side will face sanctions for their decision to stay away from the three games of the 2019/20 season.He said that fulfilment of fixtures was part of constitutional obligations for members at the beginning of each season. Kashala said FAZ had learnt from the experience of the just ended Super and National Division One seasons and would perform better next season in light of Covid-19 public health adherence.He said that FAZ was engaging stakeholders like the Zambia National Public Health Institution and the Zambia Medical Association (ZMA) to iron out problems around testing and availability of results. The 2020/2021 season is expected to commence on October 17. The Sun