All 22 Zambian national team players, along with 3 officials, 5 crew members, and 1 journalist, perished in a plane crash in Gabon on April 27, 1993.
A Zambia Airforce plane carrying the team experienced a fault, in the air before purging into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Libreville. The team was on a world cup mission to face Senegal when tragedy struck.
Chama Fumba, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Sports, and Andrew Kamanga, president of the Football Association of Zambia, were present at Heroes Acre to mark the occasion this year.
FAZ president Kamanga told the gathering that the football community and the country will continue to honor the fallen heroes.
“We will continue to honor these brave men for giving their all for our wonderful country.”
The greatest way to remember the heroes was to achieve their goals, particularly getting to the world cup.
“We must never stop working until we qualify for the World Cup in honor of the fallen heroes.”
“In 2012, when Zambia won the Africa Cup of Nations, part of the heroes ambition was realized. Kamanga continued.
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To commemorate this date in history, Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, the world football governing organization, sent a message.
“Next month, we are expecting officials from FIFA to make a documentary, on the victims of the Gabon air disaster,” he said.
