By MICHAEL MIYOBA
THE Zambia Rugby Union has been accused of squandering allowances meant for female rugby players who represented the country at the 2022 Rugby Africa Women’s Cup Pool B qualifiers in Uganda last month.
According to some sources close to the team, the ZRU had promised players K1, 500 for the two weeks they spent in camp while players were entitled to US$80 per day for the seven days they spent in Uganda.
The sources who spoke on condition of anonymity noted that the allowances which were promised were not given despite Government having released money for the players as daily allowances.
“The team camped at OYDC for two weeks and each player was told that they would be given K1, 500 each for camping. That was before our flight and for those who were dropped they were told that they would be given K1, 500 each as well.
“When the team went to Uganda, it was disappointing to learn that those who were dropped were given nothing up to today,” one source narrated.
“When the team went to Uganda where it spent a week and the players were told that they will be given US$80 per day and when you multiply 80 by seven days that’s a lot of money but the players received nothing,” the source continued.
It is alleged that the ZRU gave the Lusaka-based players K150 when they returned from Uganda where they didn’t perform well.
“When the team came back to Zambia after the tournament, those based in Lusaka were given K150, then those based in Kabwe were given K300 each while those based in Mufulira were given 500 and when they got home, as if they didn’t use a plane from Uganda to Zambia, the players came back with nothing to show that they had gone to represent our country and because of that most of them are now in debt,” the source claimed.
“What is more disappointing is that after the tournament in Uganda, some players came back with injuries but there has been no follow up to see how they are doing. We recently had a local tournament in Mufulira and most players didn’t take part because they are still not well and some are still frustrated because of what happened,”
Efforts to get a comment from the ZRU President Clement Sinkamba proved futile as he was not available to give a comment on the allegations.
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