. Liwewe

By NDINAWE SIMPELWE –
THE Football Association of Zambia has promised to adequately prepare the national football team for next year’s Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) tournament to be held in Morocco.
And The Confederation of African Football (CAF) settled for Morocco as replacement for Kenya as host of the CHAN tournament which is scheduled to run from January 12 to February 4 next year.
Kenya was stripped of the right to host after failing to provide facilities such as stadia in time for the tournament.
FAZ General Secretary Ponga Liwewe said the association would ensure the team was well tuned for the tournament so that it does not go to North-Africa to just make up numbers.
Liwewe said says good preparations will be key to Zambia’s successful participation at the Total 2018 CHAN.
Liwewe said Morocco was a good destinationfor the tournament as the country has good facilities.
He said the association was looking at camping and arranging friendly matches before the tournament kicks-offthough he was quick to mention that preparations would be dependent onthe opponents the Chipolopolo would be drawn against.
“Morocco is a good host with excellent facilities. We will obviouslyprepare well. Who we play in the friendlies will dependent on whom we get in thedraws,” Liwewe said.
Zambia’s best performance at the CHAN tournament was in its inauguralyear in 2009 where the team took bronze after finishing third but failedto qualify to the next two events.
FAZ president Andrew Kamanga also confirmed that the associationwould plan well for the tournament as the aim was to go and win it.
Kamanga said association would soon meet the technical bench to plan for the tournament and detail would be given after the meeting.
Zambia together with Angola and Namibia qualified for the tournamentfrom the Southern Zone while the North Zone will have hosts, Morocco,Egypt and Libya.
Ethiopia and Uganda will represent the Eastern Zone while the CentralZone will have African Cup of Nations champions Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville and EquatorialGuinea.
The Western Zone has two groups A and B with Guinea and Mauritaniarepresenting the A region while Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Nigeriawill represent the B region.
The CHAN tournament is a competition designed for home grown playersplying their trade in their domestic leagues.