Striker Fashion Sakala has refused to apologize to Chipolopolo coach Avram Grant for their alleged bad blood, insisting he was acting on instructions from Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Andrew Kamanga.
Last year, Sakala fell out of favour with Grant after the player publicly attacked the Israeli accusing the former Chelsea and West Ham coach of biased selection against players who refuse to sign under his agent, Nir Karin.
Prior to this attack, Sakala has revealed that Grant had sent him disrespectful voice notes condemning his style of play and labelling the Africa Under–20 Cup of Nations (AfCON) winning attacker as being lazy.
This was revealed in a 54-minute-long video where the Saudi Arabia–based player made a number of allegations against Grant, Kamanga, Nir Karin, and FAZ media personnel.
“Grant sent me an audio saying how I have been lazy, telling me I don’t work hard and that he wants to work with players who work with passion and things like that, he was telling me he will leave me.
“The first thing that I did, I didn’t respond to Grant,” Sakala said. “The first thing that I did – I was with my manager that day, the first thing that I did was to call Kamanga. So Mr. Kamanga started telling me now how I should respond to Grant.”
Sakala’s live address came hours after Kamanga had an interview with Hot FM, where he revealed that the player’s continued exile from the national team is a result of a strained relationship with some of his teammates.
According to Kamanga, some national team players want Sakala to make peace with them before he can return to the squad, something that the player has refused to do.
In his own words, Sakala said he had no apology to make, especially to Grant, in that his response to the coach had the blessings of Kamanga.
“Mr. Kamanga should be the first one to apologize to the coach. And me being there, I will apologize too. But not me apologizing on my own. No. I am not going to do that.
“I am sorry. To those who expect me to apologize, I am not going to do that. I love you Zambia. I am going to do everything it takes to support Zambia, but I am not going to apologize for playing for the Zambian national team,” Sakala said.
“This is the time for me to deliver the message because Mr. Kamanga is a betrayer. He is a betrayer. He betrayed me. You know, after all these things that me and him spoke about in secret, he’s going live, having interviews and start telling people.”
Sakala also denied having strained relationships with national teammates.
“I have never had issues with the national team. I think I have tried my best to make sure that I respect my teammates, you know, because I know the fact that my teammates contribute so much to my career,” Sakala said.
READ MORE: FAZ SG to chair Elective AGM in Kabwe, NSCZ guides
