Chronicle Editor
Petros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
DESPITE their national team being knocked out of the African Nations Championships by the Warriors, the Football Association of Zambia believe their counterparts at Zifa can take a leaf from their experience to try and turn around the national game’s flagging fortunes.Cash-strapped Zifa are saddled with a huge debt of more than US$4 million and the association continues to face seemingly endless litigation with the Messenger of Court now a regular visitor at Zifa House at 53 Livingstone Avenue in Harare.
But, in the midst of their troubles, Zifa have found a sympathetic ear from their brothers at FAZ who have been sharing with them their experience and offering advice on how the Cuthbert Dube leadership could also overcome the challenges that have pegged back the development of the game.
FAZ chief executive George Kasengele stressed that domestic football would not realise the growth it cries out for without any government support.
FAZ, Kasengele said, had initially struggled to secure government support but once the State chipped in the burden of running the game became manageable for their association.
“For us getting the government on our side was the master stroke. The government that was fighting us lost an election and the new government that has come in has given us the leeway to administer football without undue influence.
“The previous government wanted a hands on approach but President Sata’s government has kept an arm’s length and they realise that football is in good hands and we now have 100 percent sponsorship for the national team from government.
“They take care of Chipolopolo and they leave us to look after the Women, the Under-23, Under-20 and Under-17 but the Cosafa and the CHAN squads are also funded by the government,” Kasengele said.
Crucially for Zambian football too, Kasengele said, was the fact that there was now stability in the FAZ leadership with his secretariat being given all the room to administer the game.
Kasengele told The Herald that just like Zifa, FAZ had found themselves with a K6 million debt, which they gradually wiped off over the last four years.
“Stability in the leadership of FAZ has helped us a lot. Stability in the fact that Zambia became an example in that in 2011 we had a government that was against Kalusha Bwalya but we did not lose focus.
“We weathered that storm where some silly people in government wanted Kalusha’s leadership out. There were some changes in government after the elections and we had people who understood us and were more favourable to our cause of developing football in the country.
“Immediately after that we won the Nations Cup. But in all that we have become financially stable,” Kasengele said.
Although he strongly urged the Zimbabwe government to chip in and help Zifa, Kasengele said it was imperative for the association to show transparency in their dealings by constantly producing their audited accounts.
Zifa have often been found wanting with most of their meetings passing without the financial statements being tabled.
“Our financial records, even when Fifa came to assess them, were very healthy.
“Because of the stability and transparency we have managed to get sponsorship into the association and we owe it to Nike, MTN, Zambian Breweries, and SuperSport and we still left the door open for more sponsors to come in and that has helped us to forge ahead”.
In contrast, Zifa are yet to secure a major sponsor for the Warriors or any of their various national teams and obligations.
“When I came in as General Secretary in 2008 we were deep in debt, so many court actions, it was K6 billion then and after the currency was revalued it became K6 million which is a lot of money but we managed to reduce that debt to almost zero and we can now sleep well at Football House (The FAZ headquarters).
“We instilled a new sense of responsibility among staff at the Football House so that they know serve the game and not their personal interests.
“I think because of the steps we have taken, we have now tapped into the support of the people and those companies have realised the advantage of partnering us because we are the biggest sport in the country.
“We have 13 million Zambians and we believe football also has 13 million fans”.
Asked what other lessons Zifa could draw from FAZ in terms of liquidating their huge debt, Kasengele said their Zimbabwean counterparts needed to be more transparent even if they were in the red.
“There must be a commitment by Zifa to set aside a bit of the money they make from home games to pay back what they owe.
“When I came into FAZ I went to all creditors to find ways to stagger the debts and pay off slowly without impinging on the administration.
“I think Jonathan (Mashingaidze) and his president (Cuthbert Dube) can do that and ensure that money is not chewed immediately after it has been made.
“As FAZ it also saddened us very much when Zifa failed to send the Under-20 teams to youth competition.
“Zambia and Zimbabwe have abundant talent and we need to harness that talent by playing in the development tournament,” Kasengele said.
Online Reporter