Incumbent Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Andrew Kamanga has acknowledged the challenges his administration faced with the men’s national team after taking over from Kalusha Bwalya in 2016. However, he says he is proud of the progress made, particularly in laying a foundation that is now beginning to show “positive results”.
“One of the challenges I had was to deal with the performance of the senior men’s national team. Coming from a background of winning the Africa Cup, the expectation was that we’d continue on that trajectory, which didn’t happen,” Kamanga said on the Kenny T 1-on-1 podcast. “In 2013, the team got knocked out [of the AFCON group stage]. By the time I was taking over in 2016, we were struggling with an old team.”
In response to these struggles, Kamanga said his administration shifted focus towards investing in grassroots football and increasing funding to Super League clubs.
“So we then had to make a decision that we needed to go and invest in the grassroots. And it was the first time that we focused on developing structures. So the period between 2016 and 2021, we had to invest in grassroots. We also made a lot of fundamental changes. We brought in equipment support where we give equipment in the form of footballs and a set of jerseys to all the teams across the country,” he explained.
Kamanga on why he should be re-elected
He highlighted improvements in financial support for clubs, noting how sponsorship figures have grown significantly during his tenure. “At the first meeting I had with the Super League teams, we agreed that all teams would take K200,000. That figure has now grown to about K1,200,000. So those are real changes that have happened.”
Despite the struggles with the men’s team, Kamanga pointed to successes with the women’s national teams, citing their participation in major tournaments, including the 2023 Women’s World Cup. He also cited the U-20 men’s team for winning the Africa Cup in 2017 and reaching the World Cup quarter-finals as one of his achievements at FAZ.
Kamanga, who is seeking re-election on May 29, believes he has laid a strong foundation during his two terms, emphasizing the growth of the national teams and FAZ’s financial progress. “For me, it’s been a very exciting journey. And I think I’ll leave FAZ in a better space than I found it,” he concluded.
In the upcoming FAZ elections in Kabwe, Kamanga is facing competition from lawyer and FC MUZA proprietor Keith Mweemba, former Chipolopolo player Emmanuel Munaile, and former FAZ secretary general Andrian Kashala.
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