Sports

Why Zambia’s women national team could miss Olympics

Published

2 weeks ago

May 2, 2024

Zambia’s women national football team is on the verge of missing out on playing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

This is after world football governing body, FIFA, threatened to suspend the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) following accusations of money laundering offences levelled against its president, Andrew Kamanga, as well as allegations of “undue influence by third parties”.

Kamanga who has be the FAZ president since 2016, was last week, arrested by the country’s Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) along with the Secretary-General, Reuben Kamanga and two other persons, over an alleged money laundering running into K341,902.

The arrested officials have already been charged by the DEC for allegedly obtaining government funds under false pretences and being part of a conspiracy to defraud.

The anti-graft agency alleged that Kamanga used the money to fund trips for two associates to the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast early this year.

Kamanga and Reuben were charged along with Madalitso Kamanga and Jairous Siame, who travelled to the tournament as part of FAZ’s support staff though are not working with FAZ.

Indications that the Zambian football association could face the hammer came via a letter by FIFA Member Associations Officer, Kenny Jean-Marie, addressed to FAZ that the world football’s governing body had “taken interest” in the arrests of the football officials.

In the letter, Jean-Marie requested for copies of any documents received in relation to the accusations and also directed FAZ to hold its scheduled AGM despite an injunction brought by a suspended club owner which accused Kamanga of changing the association’s constitution without following due procedure, being filed in Zambia’s high court to stop it taking place.

The letter also warned that failure to hold the AGM would provide possible grounds for suspension.

Part of the letter reads:

“The order of the High Court of Zambia dated 24 April, 2024, appears to clearly amount to undue influence by third parties which could be considered as a violation of Article 19 paragraph 1 of the Fifa Statutes and Article 7 paragraph 1.g. of the CAF Statutes.

“For the avoidance of doubt, please note that the infringement of the aforementioned provisions of the FIFA and CAF Statutes may give rise to grounds for the suspension of FAZ irrespective of whether the infringement was attributed to FAZ or not.

“We would like to remind you that a suspended member association may not exercise any of its membership rights.

“The representative teams as well as the affiliated clubs of this federation can no longer take part in international competitions until the suspension has been lifted. In view of the foregoing, FAZ is directed to conduct its Annual General Meeting.”

However, a ruling by a judge upheld the injunction on and scheduled another hearing for Thursday, meaning the AGM was not allowed to take place which has placed the participation of the women’s team in the forthcoming Olympics in jeopardy.

Click to comment

Sports

Ethiopian marathon legend Bekele returns to Olympics after 12-year absence

Published

38 mins ago

May 17, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

After a 12-year absence on the international race circuit, Ethiopian marathon legend, Kenenisa Bekele, has announced that he will return for the 2024 Olympic Games in July after he was named in a 10-member team on Thursday.

The 41-year-old Bekele last competed in the London Games in 2012 when he finished fourth in the men’s 10,000m before he was overlooked for the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.

His surprise return to the Ethiopian team came after a remarkable second-place finish at the London Marathon in April which was enough to earn him a place for the Paris Olympics in a squad which also features women’s world record holder Tigist Assefa.

In his heydays, Bekele won three Olympic golds in the 5,000m and 10,000m, and is now expected to renew his rivalry with reigning Olympic champion and former world record holder, Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya who was also named in the Kenyan team.

In August 2003, Kipchoge dusted his Ethiopian rival when the two met for the first time at the Paris World Championships, holding on to win the 5,000m race, pipping Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj into second place while Bekele finished third.

Bekele made his marathon debut in April 2014 when he produced the sixth-fastest run over the distance in Paris but his career has been hampered by injuries.

Other members of the Ethiopian men’s team for the Olympics are Sisay Lemma, the Valencia marathon champion, and Deresa Geleta, while 2023 New York marathon champion and 2022 world champion Tamirat Tola and Eusedin Mohammed, are standby reserves.

Sports

Zambia’s women national team coach face new sexual assault allegation

Published

14 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Zambia women national team coach, Bruce Mwape, is facing new allegations of sexual assault and misconduct at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, prompting an investigation by world football governing body, FIFA.

Mwape who is currently facing allegations of sexual harassment after some of his players laid accusations against him, has been accused by a female FIFA contractor of inappropriately touching her breast during the tournament.

A report on the Fifa website disclosed that the body received an official complaint accusing the 64-year-old Mwape of touching the breast of a FIFA contractor from New Zealand.

The complainant is quoted to have told Fifa officials that Mwape had inappropriately touched her breasts in a suggestive manner.

“I remember him putting his hand on my shoulder to say ‘Good morning,’ but then he went again and wiped his hand straight down the front, obviously touching my boob,” the contractor reportedly said.

“It happened so quickly. It felt wrong to me but I also questioned whether it had just been a mistake. But after that, his relationship with me was very different. So I think he knew what he had done was not appropriate,” the unnamed contractor added.

The incident, according to the report, allegedly occurred while the team was staying at an Auckland hotel before their match against Spain.