ZAMBIAN FOOTBALL IS SUFFERING, SAYS FOOTBALL ADMINISTRATOR KEEGAN CHIPANGO
By Vital Reporter
Zambian football is suffering under Keith Mweemba as Football Association of Zambia (FAZ), complains veteran football administrator Keegan Chipango.
And Chipango says Mweemba’s aloofness to advice and treating people with dissenting views as his enemies is ultimately costing Zambian football.
In an interview, Chipango says Mweemba’s approach of being an isolationist who has sidelined a number of stakeholders in preference to only his kith and kin is hurting Zambian football.
He says the current poor performance of all national teams is a reflection of the poor administration of the current FAZ leadership.
“I am not a critic of the current FAZ administration but the questions I am making are the same questions everyone is asking; where are we going with Keith Mweemba? To me, this is a question that the current FAZ president should be asking himself. Kalusha Bwalya brought us the 2012 AfCON; Andrew Kamanga tried and won the AfCON U-20 in 2017, but where are going now. The future looks grim,” says Chipango who chaired the National Team Technical Committee, leading Zambia’s historic 2012 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
“Right now, everyone in the country is not happy; the clubs are worried, and we should not be surprised to see a petition being circulated because people are even saying the shoes left by Andrew Kamanga are proving to be too big for Keith Mweemba because people are making comparisons. Look at the status quo or national teams, look at women’s national team performance.”
Chipango says currently, anyone who holds a different opinion from the current administration is being treated as an enemy of Football House.
“Football knows no tribe; football knows no colour. Football is all encompassing, but what is happening currently, people are not happy but they are quiet but they are murmuring, they are complaining,” he said.
He says the division in the current set up is being reflected in the results on the pitch.
Chipango said Mweemba’s recent outbursts against former international and CAF Young Player of the Year award in 2007 over the development path of junior national teams is discouraging stakeholders from contributing to the development of Zambia football.
“The young man Clifford Mulenga, he was very constructive in his advice to FAZ, but I didn’t like the way the FAZ president came out. With due respect, God gave Keith an opportunity to administer and his name is etched in football history as FAZ president, but that doesn’t give the prerogative of wisdom; let us respect each other with a common goal which is Zambian football,” he said.
“Intimidations and using your muscles; threats is not helping us. In the end, it is Zambian football which is suffering. I am saying this because I have tried so many times to reach out to Keith but it is this thing of saying, this one belongs to Kalusha; this one belongs to Kamanga; this is not helping us. I can tell you that it is much easier to get to the Republican President and talk to him than it is to get to Keith Mweemba.”
Chipango urged Mweemba to deeply examine his conscience and reflect on his approach of sidelining most key stakeholders and treating them as his enemies.
“Right now, what we have is a closed shop in FAZ. Ask the clubs when the last time they received jerseys, footballs and equipment from FAZ? So, how are you going to develop the abundant talent in areas like here in Livingstone? There are people who thrive on controversy and division but me I would prefer people who thrive on unity,” he said.
“These inner quarrels they are pretending that don’t exist are hurting our football. What I can tell Keith is that, better to be with someone who tells you the truth to your face than a pretender. As it is now, the opinion poll is that Keith has failed, and that is why you’re seeing these inner quarrels where the FAZ vice-president Mutale Ng’andu, for instance, is not respected by junior secretariat staff. People are using it as an excuse that he wants to take over; that is he’s working against Keith… as a result, football is suffering at the end of the day because people in the FAZ executive have no time to administer football.”