MTN Super League side Indeni Football Club has sent head coach Tenant Chembo on administrative leave with immediate effect, citing poor performance.
The Ndola side has only recorded two draws from eleven matches, losing nine defeats so far and locked at the bottom of the table with two points in the 2024/25 MTN Super League.
Footballers and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (FAWUZ) General Secretary Joe Kaunda responded to the news by telling BolaNews that, according to FIFA Statutes, a coach’s poor performance is not grounds for dismissal.
Kaunda said a coach can only leave the club on two conditions: expiry of contract and mutual separation.
“We’re deeply concerned at the increasing spate of coaches being fired or placed on administrative leave by clubs in the Super League, National League, and Provincial Leagues,” Kaunda said.
He added, “Our advice to those caught up in such a situation is that they should contact us. Because, under the FIFA statutes, there are only 2 circumstances under which a coach can be let go: one is expiry of contract, and secondly, it’s by mutual separation. And never, as a result of, a poor string of results or poor performance.”
Kaunda has encouraged coaches who are on administrative leave to ask the union for direction on how to get their full salaries in cases of unfair dismissal.
Recently, FAWUZ successfully represented former Trident Football Club head coach Albert Kachinga and his assistant coach Joseph Musonda in a ruling that the FAZ Players Status and Transfer Committee order the club to pay the duo around K1.4 million for terminating contracts without just cause.
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