“WHO STARTED THIS” LIE” AND WHY?….”NATIONAL HEROES UNFIT TO HOST INTERNATIONAL MATCHES”
It is a well-scripted, coordinated, rehearsed and timed lie meant to derail a noble national cause.
It is clear to all and sundry that the release of the “lie” is well-calculated and planned.
It is easy to decipher who started the lie and the motive.
To understand this, let us look at the following:
1. National Heroes Stadium hosted a CAF Qualifier, Zambia Vs Comoros, on 7th June, 2022. What has happened between 7th June, 2022 and now for Heroes Stadium to be declared unfit?Have we been fined or censured by CAF on any concerns raised about Heroes Stadium? As far I can remember, we have not heard anything to the effect that the stadium is not fit to host international matches.
2. It is a FIFA /CAF requirement that about three to four months before any qualifier that the host nation informs CAF of the stadium they plan to use for the next game. In turn CAF considers the stadium being proposed as venue. CAF also considers among other things facilities like hotels being proposed to host visiting team. Distance between the airport where the visiting will land and where the match will take place is also considered.
Once CAF or FIFA okays the proposed venue for the match, the details are fowarded or shared to the visiting team. If a country has two (good) stadia like the case of Zambia, CAF will only respond or comment on the stadium that was proposed by host Football Association. The question is did FAZ submit Levy Mwanawasa stadium or Heroes Stadium as the planned stadium to host the next Qualifier next month or did FAZ submit two venues?
3. CAF approval is for a specific game or games. Once the host FA has submitted the venue to CAF or FIFA, the approval of the venue is for a specific match or matches. The approval for the next Qualifiers read “This list is specific for the Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’ ivore 2023 group stage Qualifiers, match day 5”. This means that FAs that will be away on match day 5 will have to inform CAF again about the stadium they plan to use in June even if CAF had allowed them to use the very stadium in March, 2023.
4. When CAF inspectors came to inspect facilities following our Afcon 2025 bid, we happily took them to Heroes. Have we forgotten what was said when the CAF inspectors were around?
5. If CAF had /has any reservations or concerns on Heroes, has FAZ communicated to the Ministry of Infrastructure so that the concerns can be addressed?
Having considered the above, it is clear that the release of the news claiming that the Heroes Stadium is unfit was not done in good faith. We can only make a hazard guess that the very misleading information was another attempt to derail the match between Chipolopolo Legends and Barcelona Legends slated for next week Thursday.
It is being orchestrated by known individuals hell bent on manipulating Zambians or always playing victim. They desire to appropriate good to themselves and bad to others.
But we believe that since the misleading information was not hatched by our FA, at the right time FAZ is expected to clear the air regarding the process of how venues to host Qualifier games are arrived at and whether they submitted Heroes to CAF.
Mumbo Lombe
16th March, 2023
Lusaka 🇿🇲