FAZ boss Andrew Kamanga hopeful that Zambian football will escape a FIFA ban

FIFA has threatened to hit Zambia with an international, following what they perceive to be a government interference in the running of football in that country.

The government-backed National Sports Council of Zambia (NSCZ) sent a letter to FIFA, asking to establish a transitional committee and review FAZ electoral processes.

Kamanga is hoping that sanity will prevail.

"Ideally, it shouldn't because for me what I believe is that with FIFA, we did have a road map and agreed in December in that programme to have the elections starting from the 15th of March up to the 29th of March,” Kamanga said.

“Of course, there's been different interpretations but at the end of the day as you can expect, FIFA only deals with the members.

“We expect that this issue will be resolved in due course but it will be sad if we went the way of being sanctioned by FIFA which I hope will not happen. I think everyone needs to find common ground."

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FIFA have always emphasised the independence of its member associations, which are legally required to operate without interference from third parties and are free from external influence.

Kamanga’s current term ended at the end of last month, and the next elections are only on the 29th of this month.

Kamanga believes that, as the current executive, they have done enough to deserve another term.

"Elections are elections and we hope that even back home, we will be given an opportunity because for me the last mandate, I think our executive did very well, we've been able to qualify to all CAF tournaments, not just in 2024 but even in 2022 we did the same,” he added.

“We were participating in all CAF competitions, in 2023. 2024, we qualified to the women’s senior, men's senior as well as men u17 and u20 and the CHAN. So, it's the first time that we're having all the teams going to CAF competitions."