By MICHAEL MIYOBA
Football administrator Damiano Mutale has accused Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Andrew Kamanga of failing to develop the sport of football in Zambia.
But Zambia Sports Fans Association (ZASPOFA) Patron Peter Makembo says it is unfair to blame Kamanga for the poor performance of the Chipolopolo because Kamanga’s executive has given the team all the support needed to deliver positive results.
Mutale said hiring the best coach to lead the Chipolopolo is not the solution because the FAZ executive led by Kamanga is so disorganized to inspire success at the senior national team level which has failed to qualify for the last three editions of the Africa Cup.
Mutale says it is unfortunate that Zambia has no coach because of the incompetent FAZ administration led by Kamanga who have failed to manage the local and foreign coaches engaged to lead the Chipolopolo.
“I warned against employing Asanovic but as usual, Kamanga never listened. Today, the same coach who has done nothing for the national team is dragging us to FIFA and it is taxpayers who will pay him should we be found with a case. Kamanga has no heart for Zambian football and the results are there for everyone to see,” Mutale said.
Asked why he spoke about Kamanga with so much hate, Mutale said; “I do not hate Kamanga. I just do not like what he has done to our football in Zambia.”
Asked who was the best candidate to take over as Chipolopolo between a foreign coach and a local coach after the federation advertised the position following the resignation of Aljosa Asanovic, Mutale said;
Makembo stated that women’s’ and youth football has improved tremendously under the leadership of Kamanga who has been collaborating well with the new dawn government to develop football in Zambia.
Makembo said it was unfortunate that the senior Chipolopolo team had failed to qualify for the last three editions of the Africa Cup despite the huge investment made to the team’s technical bench by both FAZ and the Zambian government which contributed US$15000 and US$10,000 respectively for the coach’s salary.
“Yes the senior team has not been doing well in the recent past but we have seen the Under-20 winning the Africa Cup in 2017, the women’s team competed at the Olympic Games for the first time in our football history before they qualified for the World Cup. “Right now we boast of being the champions of Cosafa at all levels including the senior national team so it is unfair to say that the current executive has failed because of the failures of the senior national team,” Makembo added.
