By MICHAEL MIYOBA
ZAMBIAN Breweries has gifted the Zambia Rugby Union (ZRU) K620, 000 to help host the 2023 Africa women’s sevens pre-qualifiers for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Zambia will host the 2024 Paris Olympic Games pre-qualifiers scheduled to run from July 1-2 in Lusaka.
The prequalifiers of the Olympic Games will feature Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, Mauritius, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Congo DR, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.
Speaking at the handover of the cheque, Minister of Youth Sports and Arts Elvis Nkandu hailed Zambian Breweries for supplementing the government’s efforts to grow sports in Zambia.
Nkandu said the government was determined to create an enabling environment which can encourage all sports to thrive at all levels with support from the corporate world.
“My ministry is thrilled that Rugby Africa, through its rugby competitions committee, granted our Zambia Rugby Union the rights to host this pre-qualifiers championship, the move which in essence has given an opportunity to our rugby ladies to fight for a place at the 2024 Paris Olympics. it is a long winding journey, but I believe a journey of a thousand miles, starts with a step. Therefore, I would like to encourage our ladies to use the opportunity of playing at home to progress to the next stage of the qualifiers,” Nkandu said
“The support by government alone is not enough to ensure the development of sport in the country. Sports development requires adequate resources for the improvement of infrastructure, training and participation at local, regional and international tournaments. To this end, there is need for a supplement hand of the private sector in the development of sport,” he said.
Meanwhile, Zambian Breweries head of marketing Thelma Kaonga thanked Government for creating a good environment for other sports codes to grow.
“We are excited to be back in this sport and we believe that we must nurture not only football but also other sports disciplines as well,” she said.
“We want to say a very big thank you to the Ministry of Youth Sports and Arts for creating an enabling environment for other sports disciplines to thrive.”
ZRU president Chileshe Bweupe said the union was looking forward to hosting a successful tournament and help development sports in Zambia.
