THE Zambia women’s national team will face Burkina Faso or Mali in the second round of the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament, Paris 2024 qualifiers.
The Copper Queens, who will be gunning for their second Olympic appearance were exempted from the first round of the qualifiers alongside six other nations and will enter the qualifiers in the second round with a date against the winners of a two-legged tie involving Burkina Faso and Mali.
If Bruce Mwape’s side gets past the second round, a date with the overall winners of the Guinea Bissau vs Benin and Guinea vs Ghana matches will be on the cards for the Copper Queens in the third round.
Overall, there will be four rounds of qualifier matches to be played and the winners from the two last qualifier matches will book their spot to the summer Olympic Games in Paris.
The first round of matches will be played from July 10–18 with the second-round matches coming from October 23–31, 2023.
The third round of matches will take place between February 19–28, 2024 while the fourthround matches will be played between April 1–9, 2024. – FAZ.
Mutale blames FAZ
FOOTBALL administrator Damiano Mutale says it is unfortunate that the exhibition match which should have united the country has exposed the pettiness of the FAZ administration.
The Chipolopolo legends at the weekend faced Barcelona legends in an exhibition match organised by Kings of Africa with the Ministry of Sports Youth and Arts.
The match which was televised to over 50 million people across the world was aimed at marketing the country’s tourism potential.
Mutale said FAZ should have taken advantage of the game to unite warring administrators.
He said the refusal to be part of the legends game by FAZ demonstrates its endless hatred over Zambia’s football icon, Kalusha Bwalya who has contributed greatly to the growth of football and was selected to lead the Chipolopolo legends as coach.
Mutale said the history of Zambian football cannot be written without Bwalya’s name being mentioned due to his influence.
