THE Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) says it has picked many lessons from the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts Qatar who did put up a splendid organisational masterclass that did not just rank among the best football events but a great show of cultural diversity.
FAZ president Andrew Kamanga said that in a bid to host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, FAZ will be looking to learning from Qatar’s example.
Kamanga said Zambia’s bid to host the 2025 AFCON was successfully filed with CAF on December 15, 2022, and will compete with a few other countries that have also declared interest to host the continental championship.
Kamanga said Zambia’s bid to host the AFCON stands a very good chance given that Southern Africa has not hosted any AFCON since the 2013 edition staged by South Africa.
He said FAZ has also taken a closer look at the requirements which puts a minimum of six stadia broken down as two with a capacity of at least 40, 000 and another four that will have a capacity of at least 20, 000. .
“Government has agreed to build from scratch in Livingstone a 20, 000 capacity stadium which will already be supported by top class accommodation as well as an international airport.
Part of the catalyst for this bid is the guaranteed government support that has already come through with the signing of all the guarantees required by CAF,” he said.
Kamanga said FAZ will draw heavily on the 2017 Under-20 AFCON that was one of the well-organised tournaments.
CAF is expected to conduct inspections in January while the successful bidder will be announced in February.
Meanwhile, Kamanga has expressed excitement that the under-20 and under-17 boys’ national teams have secured qualification to the AFCON in Egypt and Algeria respectively.
Kamanga said the under-23 are two matches away from qualification to the AFCON while the Chipolopolo remain on course for the Ivory Coast 2023 (to be played in 2024) AFCON.
He said FAZ will not relent in preparing the national teams with the under-20 already in camp for a fortnight now while another local assemblage largely comprised of the under-23 lads will be in Kuwait for an international friendly match.
