…Chipolopolo to prepare for Ivory Coast AFCON in Saudi Arabia
By MICHAEL MIYOBA
FAZ president Andrew Kamanga has confirmed that the Chipolopolo boys will have an international camp in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to prepare for the 2023 Ivory Coast Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Kamanga Said the Chipolopolo technical bench led by coach Avram Grant has submitted a program that will see the team commence their camp on December 26 in Lusaka with both foreign local players available before heading to Saudi Arabia
Kamanga reaffirmed FAZ’s commitment to provide the Chipolopolo technical bench the necessary support on their mission.
“We are working closely with government through our supervisory ministry to ensure that all the logistics are on point. The budget for the whole AFCON campaign has been duly deposited at the Ministry of Youth, Sport, and Arts for actualization,” Kamanga said.
“We have always prioritized preparations for all our teams as they prepare for international engagements. We did the same for the Copper Queens in their WAFCON qualifiers preps with two high profile friendly matches against Morocco,” the FAZ Chief stated.
On the Copper Queens who qualified for the 2024 Womens Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco Kamanga said; “While the Copper Queens have now sealed WAFCON qualification, they have yet another mammoth task coming up in February which is Olympic qualification against Ghana.”
Kamanga noted the need for Zambia to sustain its presence at top global tournaments having tasted Olympic football in 2021 (Tokyo 2020 Olympics) and the FIFA World Cup in June this year.
Meanwhile Kamanga has wished Zanaco coach and former Chipolopolo coach Wedson Nyirenda a successful outing in Morocco where he has been sent to pursue his CAF Pro License badge.
Kamanga said Copper Queens coach Bruce Mwape will join Nyirenda in the next intake in July next year.
“We are grateful to the Moroccan FA with whom we have an MoU that we are drawing upon for this partnership,” Kamanga said.
Nyirenda will join an elite club of coaches who pioneered the CAF Pro Licence like Walid Regragui (Champions League winner), Florent Ibenge (Confederation Cup winner) and Pitso Mosimane, a three-times Champions League winner.
