Thu, 15 Feb 2018 11:15:44 +0000
… Qualification to 2019 Afcon a must
By GRACE CHAILE LESOETSA
FAZ president, Andrew Kamanga, has strongly affirmed that Zambia’s qualification to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations is a must saying excuses from the technical bench will not be entertained.
Speaking in an interview in Lusaka yesterday, the FAZ chief said the soccer body will focus on preparations for the Cameroon 2019 AfCON qualifiers with Zambia’s second Group K game away against Namibia on September 7.
Zambia are in third position without a point after they lost 0-1 to Mozambique in the opening qualifier at Levy Mwanawasa on November 11, 2017.
Guinea Bissau and Mozambique are on joint three points with the Mambas topping the group on an inferior goal difference.
He pledged full support to the Chipolopolo team to ensure the qualification target was attained.
“Zambia’s qualification to the 2019 AfCON is a must, no two ways about it. I will definitely not accept any excuses from the technical bench, we can’t miss out this time around,” he said.
Kamanga also guaranteed that Wedson Nyirenda was still Zambia national team head coach and there were no intentions of terminating his contract.
“FAZ issued a statement on Monday dispelling the social media rumours stating that we are about to fire the coach. I can reaffirm that Wedson Nyirenda is still the Chipolopolo head coach,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kamanga said the process of de-linking the Premier league from Football House was on course.
He said the technical committee was working on it.
“The process of restructuring the league is on course and once the technical committee finalises everything, FAZ will announce,” he said.
FAZ last December appointed English soccer administrator David Dein as a consultant to spearhead the restructuring of the league.
Kamanga had explained that the idea was to allow the association to focus on managing all national teams as well as provide regulatory oversight in line with the statues and regulations.
He also said the forth-coming FAZ annual general meeting was not illegal and asked those insinuating so to take time to understand the constitution.
