Zambia were eliminated from the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in the group stage after drawing one-all with DR Congo and Tanzania before falling 1-0 to Morocco.
The team was thought to be inexperienced, especially since the majority of the players were making their debuts on the continent’s largest football stage.
However, in an interview with the Israeli publication ONE, Chipolopolo coach Avram Grant partly blamed the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) for the team’s poor performance.
He was quoted as saying FAZ’s poor pre-tournament preparations “hurt us very sharply. We made good preparations because I have Jimmy Lawrence in the team, a fitness trainer who is an expert in these things and we trained the players.
“They made us 30-hour flights with 9-hour connections. One flight had 4 stops in the middle. As a result, we lost 11 training units and another 2 training games.
“I’m not afraid to say that they’ll say I’m making excuses, I’m telling about objective reasons that I’ve never come across.”
‘FAZ management is inexperienced’
The 68-year-old former Chelsea FC and Ghana trainer also stated that FAZ officials, not just players, lacked experience.
“It is not only that the players are inexperienced; the entire management of the association in Zambia is inexperienced, one that is not from football at all and has never been to the African Championship.
“The first time they understood what they were doing was when we played against Cameroon, where Samuel Eto’o is the chairman of the association and he explained to them the conditions, how many practice matches they played, how many training sessions they did and that they flew a direct flight from Dubai compared to us. It was very difficult to deal with the conditions and I think we did it overall well.
Following Chipolopolo’s early exit from the AFCON, the Zambian government and FAZ backed Avram to remain the team’s head coach.
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup set to resume in June of this year, it’s unclear whether if the Israeli gaffer will lead the Chipolopolo Boys.
