Hara Zondiwe, General Secretary of the Eastern Province Football Association of Zambia (FAZ), has announced that the decision to limit the age of players seeking to participate in the upcoming nationwide trials has been reversed.

FAZ Eastern Province announced on Monday that the trialists would be limited to under-24 players from across the province.

In an interview with BolaNews, Zondiwe disclosed that the Eastern executive committee decided on Tuesday to remove the age cap to allow all deserving players to participate in the trials.

According to Zondiwe, the decision now allows the appointed technical bench to select players from any age group in order to expose the best players in the inter-provincial trials, which will be held after the initial stage is completed.

“Following the debate and discussions over the age limit in the selection of players to form the provincial senior team, we take heed and allow selectors to choose from the available talent in the province regardless of the age,” Zondiwe said.

Coach Luke Chamoto has been tasked with selecting the final provincial team with the assistance of other senior coaches George Banda, Raphael Banda, Bwalya Kangwa, Keegan Mwape, and Masauso Tembo, while Ezekiel Siamalambo serves as the provincial technical coordinator.

According to FAZ, the countrywide player selection exercise will pit the best players from provincial teams against the national team in an All Stars Versus the Rest format. Some top performers from the select side may be drafted into the national team.