FAZ PRESIDENT’S CORNER: FAZ Silence Not a Sign of Weakness
An Absalutely warm welcome to this week’s interaction from Kitwe. We just concluded an exciting 2024 ABSA Cup semifinal weekend that saw Kabwe Warriors and Red Arrows set up a mouthwatering final this weekend at the National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka. The final has the FAZ patron, President Hakainde Hichilema as the chief guest which adds to the excitement of the 2024 edition.
On the field of play Kabwe Warriors will be in their debut ABSA Cup final while Red Arrows will be in the hunt for their second ABSA Cup trophy. The National Heroes Stadium is currently a subject of renovations that are slowly hitting high gear and will provide a brief window for the fans, long before it reaches the optimum level as prescribed by the FIFA. The ABSA Cup provides a perfect side show as our league enters its final stages. We cannot thank ABSA Bank more for keeping the fire burning since 2007 with unbroken sponsorship. It is our prayer that other corporates can emulate this all-weather partnership.
On the national team fold, we have our under-17 girls in action in the third round of the Dominican Republican 2024 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Uganda. The team has been in camp shaping up for this humongous task that puts them within one round of FIFA World Cup qualification. Our first leg match against Uganda will be aimed at ensuring that the return leg in Kampala is less strenuous. The team did extremely well against Tanzania in the previous round with a 5-1 aggregate score but the task against Uganda will be a different challenge.
The under-17 girls will be drawing inspiration from the Copper Queens that have set very high standards with back-to-back Olympic qualification and a FIFA World Cup appearance. There is no doubt that with our junior teams doing very well, we are planting a seed of success for future stars.
We are also working in the background to prepare adequately for the Group E 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Tanzania and Morocco respectively. Zambia will be away to Morocco in Agadir on June 8 before hosting Tanzania at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola three days later. We have an international camp lined up for the Chipolopolo in Europe as part of intense and concentrated preparations. We have never faltered on our duty to adequately prepare our various national teams for various international assignments. We are doing the same for the Paris 2024 Olympic bound Copper Queens with some high profile friendly games on the cards. We have had a fruitful engagement with the National Olympic Committee to align our program for preparations with their schedule and plans. We have no doubt the Copper Queens will get the best possible preparations before they take to the Olympics.
Finally, we cannot sign off without laying bare our anxieties about the ongoing indefinite postponement of the FAZ Annual General Meeting instigated by a court action by two non-members. We stayed have compliant with the court process and made an appearance last week where the matter was adjourned to Thursday this week. While we have more than impressed on all reasonable followers of our beautiful game that football disputes can never be resolved through the courts of law as prescribed by FIFA in its statutes, we have remained open to finding a solution to the ongoing impasse. FIFA has more than provided guidance on the matter at hand and will no doubt provide a position in the next few days. They have, however, been magnanimous enough to give Zambia leeway to resolve the ongoing impasse. We have also sadly taken note of a growing trend of some non-members finding solace in disrupting the game through the use of third parties.
We are aware of a well-coordinated plan to soil FAZ and its leadership through the use of some institutions as part of propping up some candidates for next year’s elections. Everyone knows that elections in FAZ are not due until next year and therefore the leadership must be allowed to run the game without any undue influence. While we have remained respectful and compliant throughout this ordeal, we should not be taken for being weak.
Have a productive week!