FAZ CHIEF WELCOMES NKANDU

By MICHAEL MIYOBA FOOTBALL Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Andrew Kamanga has welcomed new minister of Sports Youth and Child Development Elvis Nkandu. Kamanga said the association was looking forward to a positive working relationship and expect to call on the new minister soon. Meanwhile, Kamanga said the Chipolopolo suffered a great injustice during the …

FAZ CHIEF WELCOMES NKANDU
By MICHAEL MIYOBA FOOTBALL Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Andrew Kamanga has welcomed new minister of Sports Youth and Child Development Elvis Nkandu. Kamanga said the association was looking forward to a positive working relationship and expect to call on the new minister soon. Meanwhile, Kamanga said the Chipolopolo suffered a great injustice during the FIFA window for qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. Kamanga said the country could not have two of the best players available for the home match against Tunisia which Zambia lost 2-0 at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola. “We missed the services of Leicester City’s Patson Daka and Enock Mwepu who plays for Brighton and Hove Albion. Our prayer is that the reduced numbers of Covid-19 incidences will improve our country’s grading from a red zone to either amber or green. “Our expectation is that the next window in October would present a better grading that will allow our country to have our best possible team fielded when we play Equatorial Guinea on October 6 away and home four days later,” Kamanga said. He noted that FAZ will continue to ensure that the team continues to prepare adequately for the World Cup qualifiers which returns next month with Zambia facing Equatorial Guinea in back-to-back group B fixtures. And Kamanga is hopeful that the 2021/2022 soccer season will be bigger than the than the just ended season. Kamanga said FAZ is working closely with the Ministry of Health to explore the possibility of spectators returning to stadia. He said FAZ already has a working relationship with the Zambia Medical Association (ZMA) to handle the Covid-19 protocols for the league and the guidelines have been availed to the membership and key stakeholders to ensure that football is above board in observing the Covid-19 guidelines.