By SANDRA MWILA –

THE Football Association of Zambia yesterday failed to explain the mystery behind the 22-man Chipolopolo team list released last week with both Zambia coach George Lwandamina and acting general secretary Katongo Kabungo not coming out clear on the matter during a Press briefing in Lusaka.
Lwandamina yesterday released a list of 25 players for a one-week assessment camp to run from May 1 to 4 in Ndola which saw the addition of three more players namely, Christopher Katongo, Isaac Chansa and Nkana hotshot Jacob Ngulube.
A 22-member list was released last week for the COSAFA senior challenge, but Lwandamina rebuffed the earlier list saying it had omissions and was only meant for a week-long assessment camp.
Both FAZ and acting team manager Stanley Kaseko denied having a hand in the distortion of the list.
Kabungo said the secretariat never tampers with lists and that the selection of players was a preserve of the coach.
Lwandamina insisted that the team he had named was for a week’s assessment camp, and that bringing in the COSAFA tournament meant his objectives had been changed.
“The only difference is that the team I called was for a  one-week assessment and not COSAFA. If the people changed the reasons for camp, then it’s not my list but if it was for an assessment camp, then it would have been my list.
“But if the objective was changed, then it ceases being my list,” Lwandamina said.
From the list Lwandamina released yesterday, Christopher Munthali and Mwape Mwelwa were omitted from the team.
Lwandamina justified his decision to drop Munthali which he attributed to two months of inactivity due to the suspension the player just served.
He said he would be assessing Mwelwa everyday at Zesco United.
“I have called Ngulube for us to start from somewhere. The team I have called was the core team that went to the CHAN.
“Ngulube was on the initial list and I had dropped him. For Munthali, it’s everywhere in the media that he was suspended, do you expect him to have fitness? Already he has failed and Mwelwa is my player, I assess him everyday, so I know where to include him or drop him,” he said.
Lwandamina said he could not risk calling novices in preparing for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against Guinea Bissau because the intensity of the match was high.
“If we are talking of COSAFA and not AFCON, we could have used trial-and-error because it is of less significance,” Lwandamina said.
He said the selection of players was the duty of the national team coach and the FAZ president.
“It is the duty of [the] coach and FAZ president to select players because they are the ones that receive criticism and praises according to the performance of the national team.
“Unlike in the past where a committee would select players, the situation now is different. It is left to the coach and president. They have keen interest in the selection of the national team,” Lwandamina said.
When asked after Lwandamina’s briefing, Kabungo said the selection of the team was done by the coach and that the FAZ secretariat did not interfere.
“The coach is the only person that is the spokesperson for the national team. I am constrained to comment on what the coach has said because he acts independently.
“He knows the programme, he knows what he wants to tackle first, we don’t change anything here. Selection of players is for the coach and his assistants,” Kabungo said.