By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE –
THE Zambia Handball Association (HAZ) has received two invitations to compete in a series of friendly matches in Sweden and India.
HAZ president Victor Banda said in an interview that the two invitations were as a result of Zambia’s performance at the just-ended 2014 African Nations Championship in Nairobi, Kenya that saw the country ranked ninth on the continent.
Banda said playing the two countries will act as good preparation ahead of the Zone Six Challenge that will be staged in Zambia later this year.
The national handball body failed to secure the required resources to send the team to the continental championship, a situation that prompted HAZ to trim the squad from 14 to seven players without substitutes.
But Banda said the association was still confident that the corporate world would come on board and offer assistance to the improvement of the sport in the country.
The friendly matches are scheduled to take place June and July and that the two federations have offered to meet accommodation and food expenses for the Zambian teams.
“I can confirm that we have received an invitation from the Swedish Handball Federation for a five-day friendly tournament and they have asked us to send the boys’ and girls’ teams. The Indian Handball Federation also knocked on our door and they want us to send a male team for another tournament.
The good thing is that both federations have only asked us to look into transportation costs and we have considered both outings because they are very important to our teams,” he said.
He said the two outings will prepare the teams adequately for the Zone Six challenge where teams in the Southern African region will battle it out for qualification for the International Handball Championship for all Zones on the globe.