The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has told Bola News that it has started the application process of naturalizing Manchester City defender Jadel Katongo and Cardiff City striker Chanka Zimba ahead of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The two were named among the foreign-based players that will be part of coach Oswald Mutapa’s under-23 squad for the qualifiers next month.
“We are already in contact with the players that’s why the coach has named them in the squad, and we have since started the naturalization process through the relevant ministries,” said FAZ communication manager Sydney Mugala.
The two English players are of Zambian descent, having been born to Zambian fathers.
Katongo, 17, has been a key member of Manchester City football club’s age-group teams from the U9s to the Under-18s, featuring regularly with the Under-18s in the title-winning campaign in 2020/21.
Last season, Katongo played 18 games to help City retain the Under-18 Premier League, which earned him a debut in the Elite Development Squad (EDS, a Manchester City reserve team that is predominantly an under-23 developmental team.
He also signed his first professional contract with City before the start of this season and has been promoted to the City Elite squad for the 2022–23 season.
Zimba who was born in Zambia is 19 years old and recently signed a new contract with Cardiff City that will see him remain at the club until June 2024.
He has impressed at Cardiff City since joining from Blackburn Rovers in September 2020. He made a few appearances for the first-team squad and even scored in two pre-season matches before he was loaned to Newport County for the 2022-23 season.
Zimba has so far been directly involved in 3 goals this season for Newport in his last 9 appearances which includes a goal and assist in the EFL cup.
FAZ now hopes that the Ministry of Sports and Home Affairs will assist in expediting the naturalization process so that the two players can compete for Zambia in the qualifiers next month.
Meanwhile, Lameck Banda of Lecce FC in Italy’s Serie A, Prince Mumba of NK Istra in Croatia, Miguel Chaiwa of Swiss giants BSC Young Boys, and Golden Mafwenta of Real Monarchs in the United States have all been named to Oswald Mutapa’s under-23 squad.
Zambia is on a bye and will only compete in the second-round qualifiers in Freetown on the weekend of October 21-23 before hosting Sierra Leone on October 29 in Lusaka.
The winner over the two legs will qualify for the final round that will be played in March 2023 and will face Egypt or the winner between Botswana and Eswatini.
The U23 Africa Cup of Nations will be held in Morocco in June 2023 as a qualifying tournament for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, with Zambia aiming to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in 34 years.
