FAZ owes referees allowances for 3 seasons, reveals Ng’andu
By Bright Tembo
REFEREE Roderick N’gandu says FAZ president Andrew Kamanga is being lied to by his subordinates that things are okay on the ground when they are not.
In an interview, N’gandu noted that Kamanga is being misled as there is too much gap between the referees and him.
Nga’ndu has called for a country wide boycott from the referees, demanding to be paid their outstanding allowances for three seasons.
More than three provinces have suspended their league games for division one and two after referees boycotted.
“FAZ president Ander Kamanga is being lied to that things are okay on the ground when they are actually not. There’s a gap between referees and the president; someone is misleading him, telling him that things are okay on the ground. How I wish he had time to interact with referees,’’ Ng’andu said.
“It’s not a fight, it’s the core because we are not exchanging words and insulting FAZ and the president, we are just calling on him to make things work.”
He explained that there are some match officials in the lower leagues that are being owed as far back as 2021.
“There are districts as far back as 2021 which have not received their money and this has happened in the previous administration where they left without paying us. We are going to elections next year, who is going to pay us if Kamanga leaves office? No one,’’ Ng’andu said. ‘’The economy worldwide things have gone up. Someone is going to officiate a game from Chelston to Police College, look at how much is involved and you give him K80!”
Ng’andu has since called on the coming back of the Referees Association of Zambia (RAZ) to help out in tabling issues.
“When we talk, we are intimidated with suspension. The only way we can have a better referring in Zambia is when we bring back RAZ because it has structures from the district to the provinces. They don’t want RAZ but want a vote from the referees. The constitution of FAZ has a provision and it’s a law that RAZ shall be an affiliate of FAZ and will have one vote and two representatives at every meeting,’’ explained Ng’andu. “We have people who represent us who are provincial coordinators and are sellouts to young referees because if they meant well they would have been speaking for them and have organised structures. If we had RAZ today we would have gone to FAZ and tell them to make a payment plan towards three seasons that they have not been paying. FAZ should pay all the money they are owing referees; look at the value of money – K80 yesterday is not a value today.”
Meanwhile, FAZ has appealed to referees that have boycotted matches to return to the pitch while their issues were being addressed.
“We are taking interventional measures in consultation with our members and will duly communicate with the referees through the established channel. Generally the concerns revolve around transport and unpaid match officiating allowances,” said FAZ general secretary Reuben Kamanga in a statement. “We appeal to match officials that have boycotted officiating to get back to the pitch as we address their concerns. We wish also to remind the referees of their obligations to the game that are prescribed in code of conduct that they must abide by at all times. Football is a rule based game and everyone must be compliant to the rules. We will be making announcements in due course on the recruitment drive of more referees across the country. Our desire is to groom quality match officials that will be a permanent fixture on the international panel.”