It was great to see the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) finally stage their Annual General Meeting (AGM) after a 56-day-long delay.
This meeting was initially scheduled for April 27, but football politics, which usually surround Zambian football whenever there is an AGM around the corner, delayed the event.
After reaching an outside court agreement, FAZ and those that had caused the halting of the AGM agreed to proceed with the meeting ‘for the good of the game,’ thanks to the intervention of President Hakainde Hichilema.
We know numbers excite people; thus, this article will bring out some of the numbers that were spilled at Saturday’s convergence of football stakeholders.
Proposed increased spending
Football House told delegates that it intends to increase its spending in the 2024 financial year for the smooth administration of the people’s game. The meeting heard that the association has drawn a K274,545,424 budget.
From the budgeted amount, FAZ wishes to spend K253,693,211 which will see them record a surplus of over K20 million should they stick to their plan, but as has always been the case, surpluses are not that common at Football House.
Where will the money go?
Delegates heard that K34,275,069 will be spent on misfiring Chipolopolo while Olympic Games–bound Copper Queens have been apportioned K31,648,090 in this financial year.
The biggest chunk of the budget will go to infrastructure projects, with FAZ proposing to spend K67,897,449 while the Zambia Premier League and Lower Division Football have been allocated K39,390,463 and K17,494,801, respectively.
Futsal has been allocated K10 million, while administrative costs will account for K29,422,940, with youth football expenditure expected to be at K11,177,800 and the production of KoPa will be at K5,160,000.
Finally, on expenditure, technical programs are expected to gobble K7,226,600.
Where will the money come from?
Your question is as good as ours, but worry not; the FAZ river has various streams of income that pour into it. World football governing body FIFA is the big buyer.
Football House expects Zurich to fund 50 percent of the budget, representing a staggering amount of K137,443,183, while FAZ itself will be the second biggest contributor, adding K32,034,030 to the budget.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is expected to pour K30,928,268 into the FAZ river, representing 11 percent of the budget, while broadcast partner SuperSport will contribute K23,731.313.
FAZ expects the KoPa merchandise to bring in K16,888,076 while MTN Zambia is expected to fund four percent of the budget, which amounts to K12,000,000 with BetWay adding K8,000,000
Two percent of the budget will be funded by a category called Other Partners while the remaining three percent will be settled by ABSA, TopStar and Zambrew.
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