ZAMBIA PREMIER LEAGUE LAUNCHED, DE-LINKING LEAGUE OPERATIONS FROM FAZ
THE Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has officially launched the Zambia Pr emier League (ZPL), a professional body that will run league football on behalf of Football House.
Having been working in an interim capacity for a while now, the ZPL has finally been launched, signaling the de-linking of the league operations from the FAZ secretariat.
Previously, league football used to be managed by the FAZ secretariat, but with the coming of the new body, that will change although FAZ maintains the overall responsibility of managing football in the country.
FAZ president Andrew Kamanga said at the launch today that the move is a milestone towards professionalizing the game in the country.
“Today’s event comes on the back of a historic development in our game which is the de-linking of the premier league from the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ).
“I must state from the outset that this is not a divorce but a partnership that promises to elevate our game to the next level. Many developed football nations have embraced this model,” Kamanga said.
This move is similar to what happens in most parts of the world where the local Football Association is not directly involved in the operations of the league.
In South Africa, there is the Premier Soccer League (PSL) while in England and Spain there is the The Premier League and La Liga respectively among other examples.
And chairman of the ZPL Kephas Katongo has said the move is for the betterment of Zambian football.
“Our beeline is “professionalise to commercialise” and i urge all clubs as major stakeholders to do just that,” Katongo said.
Mwebantu