FAZ needs financial freedom

By MICHAEL MIYOBAFOOTBALL Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Andrew Kamanga says there is need for the association to be financially independent to deal with challenges that come with engaging a national team coach.Kamanga said the challenge involving national team coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic whose contract is yet to be approved by government would have been concluded if the association was financially independent.Kamanga said there is need for football in Zambia to be commercially viable and sustainable for the Zambian game to move forward.The FAZ chief who will be seeking a second term as FAZ president during the postponed elective FAZ Annual General meeting is however confident that Micho’s issue will be concluded soon as promised by government.“The (Ministry of Sports) Permanent Secretary Stated that the process is being cleared up, we should make an announcement soon in terms of where we are but hats off to the government for the commitment but even FAZ we have committed $15000 to meet the bill of the coach for the first time we are doing this as FAZ,” Kamanga said.Meanwhile, Kamanga who beat Kalusha with just 7-votes in the race to Football House with 163 votes during the 2016 elective FAZ AGM, said he has met the expectations of FAZ concillors in his four rule asFAZ Chief after he took over form Kalusha Bwalya in 2016.Kamanga who is accused of having failed as FAZ president despite having guided Zambia to win the under-20 AFCON and also guided the She-polopolo to qualify for the postponed Olympic Games said he has been able to deliver according to the FAZ members’ expectation.“If you go on social media I will get zero votes but if you go to the FAZ members I have delivered according to their expectations because the members have a deferent perspective of what we are doing,” Kamanga said.He reaffirmed the association’s commitment to giving FAZ affiliated clubs more resources adding to the K5,000 and soccer jerseys to help them run their clubs efficiently.