Tue, 26 Sep 2017 13:16:57 +0000
…soccer fans tell FAZ to bid for hosting the 2018 CHAN championship in Zambia
By Michael Miyoba
SOCCER fans in Lusaka have challenged FAZ to bid for the hosting of the 2018 Championship of African Nations (CHAN).
Some soccer fans spoken to by Daily Nation Sports in Lusaka urged FAZ to take advantage of the stripping of Kenya’s hosting the tournament following a CAF executive committee meeting in Accra, Ghana on Saturday.
The tournament features players in local leagues.Joshua Zimba a keen follower of Zambian football said Zambia had the capacity to host a successful CHAN tournament after hosting the 2017 under-20 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
“As a nation we can host the CHAN tournament. We recently hosted the 2017 under-20 Africa cup of nations which was very successful therefore I don’t see any reason why we would fail because we have done it before and we were successful,” Zimba said.
Mathews Soko noted that there was need for the Ministry of Sports and FAZ to discuss and see the way forward.
Soko said Zambia was capable of hosting the 2018 CHAN tournament as it had the necessary facilities to stage a tournament of that magnitude.
“I think we cannot fail to host the tournament. I think we have enough stadiums which can host the final sixteen teams that will participate in the tournament,” Soko said.
The reports from a team of inspectors from CAF, who visited Kenya in the first week of September, suggested that the political unrest in Kenya would prevent the country from hosting a successful tournament.
The inspectors also said that the facilities for the tournament would not be ready with only three months away despite Kenyan’s government releasing funds to speed up the works.
Meanwhile FAZ president Andrew Kamanga said that the local soccer governing body was not considering to bid to host next year’s CHAN tournament.
Kamanga said FAZ had not received any request from CAF to submit their bids to host next year’s CHAN tournament.
“FAZ hasn’t been communicated to by CAF on their decision to strip Kenya off the rights to host next year’s tournament but as an association we are not in any way considering to bid for the tournament,” Kamanga said.
