Zambia: Football Association of Zambia president Andrew Kamanga says the high turnover of administrators at clubs is worrying.
Addressing delegates at the Lusaka Province Governance Workshop at the Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYDC), Kamanga said while FAZ regularly trained administrators, the clubs did not retain them for a longer period.
“We train our administrators on an annual basis but what is always worrying us, and I think it is something that you need to reflect on even as you speak to the members, there is a high turnover of officials. You see new faces every season,” Kamanga said.
“If we have consistency and continuity, the knowledge that we give out every year will be there to support those who are already there. If we keep changing officials, year in, year out, whoever we train is out, of course, those are decisions made by the clubs, but I think we must start taking a slightly different view. We must give the executives in the clubs a minimum of two years.”
Kamanga said his administration had taken the bold step to decentralize the game, which had given the provinces the power to administer the sport on a day-to-day basis.
“This is one of the things we envisaged when we sought out to decentralize our game. The devolution of our game may be in its infancy, but we are already reaping great rewards,” he said.
“Not too long ago, the Lusaka Province set the pace for other provinces when they selected an under-17 team that competed with their counterparts in Eastern Province as part of commemoration of the 59th Independence anniversary. It was a moment of pride for FAZ to see the province leadership networking in advancing the cause of our game.”
“Decentralization remains one of the core deliverables in our FAZ mandate, and I am quite happy that we are on course in actualizing this world-accepted administration tool. We have literally taken back football power to the people.”
The FAZ chief lamented that the ignorance of some officials fueled some of the unsavoury incidences at stadia by administrators.
“We have occasionally seen administrators at the centre of some of the most unsavoury incidences in our game. We have followed incidences of attacks on match officials at some match venues, which should be consigned to the stone age,” he said.
Kamanga challenged the provincial executive to work hard and attract sponsorship for lower-division clubs.
He said FAZ had sourced K100,000 for the provincial winners in the ten provinces.
He encouraged the provincial executive committee to help identify sponsorship opportunities for the lower leagues.
The Lusaka Province chairperson, Jordan Maliti, thanked the membership for turning to the workshop meant to upskill them.
FAZ General Secretary Reuben Kamanga said FAZ was continuously delivering on its set targets in the 10-year strategic plan.
The workshop covered different governance subjects and hired special experts to appraise the participants.
Participants are drawn from Divisions One, Two, Three and Four for both male and female clubs.