. Kasengele

By SANDRA  MWILA –
THE Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) says it will not tolerate unruly behaviour from the Shepolopolo players over their unpaid allowances.
FAZ general secretary George Kasengele warned the Shepolopolo against holding the association to ransom over their unpaid allowances for qualifying and participating at the TN Mobile 9th African Women Championship (AWC) held in Namibia.
“This kind of behaviour where a group of young ladies want to hold the association to ransom is alien to football and cannot be tolerated and condoned,” Kasengele said in a statement released in Lusaka yesterday.
Kasengele said the association was disappointed with the Shepolopolo’s high level of indiscipline exhibited after their elimination from the AWC.
The Shepolopolo staged a week-long protest at the FAZ technical centre where they vowed not to leave until their pending allowances amounting to around K12,000 each were paid.
The players said they were promised K5,000 for qualifying, K50 per day for the one month spent in camp as well as the US$80 per day allowances while in Windhoek for the competition.
Kasengele said the association has had a huge responsibility of fulfilling many tournaments and fixtures in the last two years.
He highlighted the under-17 girl’s qualification to the FIFA World Cup in Costa Rica followed by the Shepolopolo maiden appearance at the AWC as well as the boy’s Under-17 and 20 qualifications to their respective continental age group championships.
“Never in the recent past has the association been made to fulfil so many international fixtures and tournaments as has been the case the last two. This is besides the numerous local training camps for the local national team that are costing the association dearly,” he said.
He said the fixtures and tournaments have taken a heavy toll on the association’s finance base which has resulted in many sacrifices being made.
Kasengele said that the Under 17 and 20 boy’s teams have both qualified to their respective 2015 continental age group championship with little or nothing from the association but pride and dedication to duty.
He said Under 17 and 20 players from have not held the association to ransom despite only getting their FIFA approved stipends from the FAZ.
“The association does not receive any form of financial assistance and support from the Government to fulfil programmes both for the women and boys junior national teams. FAZ relies on the resources realised from sponsorships and gate revenue from international matches by the senior national team to meet these international fixtures,” Kasengele said.
He said FAZ has sacrificed a lot of its time and resources to ensure that women and junior national programs are fulfilled, even to the extent of depleting the association’s resources to the barest minimum.
Meanwhile, the players called off their protest on Monday after they were promised payments of their dues by today.