Latest news with #Kamanga
New York Times
02-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Zambia withdraws four NWSL players from matches in China over United States ‘travel measures'
The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has said that four of its internationals who play in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) will not travel to China for upcoming matches. FAZ said in a statement on Wednesday that Barbra Banda, Rachael Kundananji, Prisca Chilufya and Grace Chanda will miss the Yongchuan International Tournament due to 'additional travel measures introduced by the new administration' in the United States. Advertisement The New York Times reported this week that President Donald Trump is set to implement new tariffs which could further limit trade between the U.S. and China, increasing tensions between the two countries. In recent months, increased border security in the U.S. has resulted in reports of tourists and legal immigrants being detained. Trump has also signed an executive order to draft a list of countries that 'warrant a partial or full suspension' by the U.S. The New York Times reported that China is not on the list of 43 countries, while the State Department says travelers to mainland China should 'exercise increased caution.' Reuben Kamanga, the general secretary of the FAZ, said it is in the 'best interest' of the four Zambian players to miss the upcoming friendly matches, based on advice he received from 'key offices', including the United States of America Zambian mission in Washington. 'After working through the process instigated by recently introduced measures it was decided that it is in the best interest of our players to skip this assignment,' Kamanga said. The Zambian embassy in Washington, D.C. did not immediately reply to request for clarification on what measures FAZ was referring to. The decision was also informed by players' concerns about entry back into the United States, according to a source briefed on the situation. '(The players) will definitely be available for future assignments as they were for the last window when we played Malawi,' Kamanga said. 'The technical bench has since roped in replacements to ensure that the team remains competitive.' The NWSL did not respond to request for comment at the time of publication. Representatives for Orlando Pride and Bay FC, where the players play, confirmed the players will not travel to China. The Pride representative stated the same 'additional travel measures' as FAZ for the reasoning. Advertisement Banda, Zambia's captain, is a notable absence given the 25-year-old's goalscoring form since the 2024 season. She scored 17 times as Orlando won the NWSL title last season. Bay FC's Kundananji and Pride's Chilufya and Chanda, meanwhile, all featured for Zambia in the 2024 Olympic Games. Kamanga emphasized the importance of international games in Zambia's preparations for the Women's Africa Cup of Nations competition in July. Zambia faces Thailand on Saturday, April 5. They will then face either hosts China or Uzbekistan in the third-place playoff or the Yongchuan International Tournament final three days later. By women's soccer writer Tamerra Griffin The absence of the four Zambian NWSL players will be particularly felt by the Copper Queens during the international break — particularly Banda and Kundananji both strikers, who've each begun their second seasons in the league and have been critical to their respective sides. Last season, Banda finished the regular season with 13 goals, six assists, and a nomination for the NWSL MVP award. Her consistent, dynamic performance ignited the Pride, once an embattled club, on an historic run that earned them the NWSL Shield and a championship, where she scored the team's winning goal and was crowned the MVP of the match. Three games into their 2025 campaign, Banda has already scored twice and contributed an assist for the Pride. Kundananji, meanwhile, made headlines in the league before her first match with Bay when her $788,000 transfer fee from Madrid CFF in Spain to the San Jose, California-based team set a new world record at the time. The 23-year-old striker recorded five goals and four assists in her NWSL debut season and quickly became a beloved player for the home crowd, known for her cheeky moves and tenacious work rate. Advertisement Chanda, a midfielder, was unable to play for the Pride last season due to injury but has been activated this season. Chilufya, a forward who signed with the Pride in late January from FC Juarez in Mexico, has played 82 minutes for the Pride this season. (Top photo of Barbra Banda, Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images)
The Guardian
21-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘We've had enough': anger threatens Zambian football after election controversy
Zambia's victory at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon remains one of football's most compelling stories. Returning to the country where most of the Chipolopolo squad had been killed in a plane crash almost two decades earlier en route to a World Cup qualifier in Senegal, Zambia defeated the heavy favourites Ivory Coast in the final on penalties to become African champions for the first time. But you won't find any trace of that famous triumph at the Football Association of Zambia's headquarters in Lusaka. 'If you walk into Football House today, you will never find a single picture of what is our greatest achievement,' says Godfrey Chikumbi, a journalist and the vice-president of Mansa Wanderers in Zambia's northern Luapula province. That, he says, is down to Andrew Kamanga, who in 2016 succeeded Kalusha Bwalya, one of the few surviving members of the 1993 squad, as president of the FA (Faz). 'He has removed the pictures and shredded them,' Chikumbi says. 'Kamanga doesn't want to be associated with it because of Kalusha. He doesn't like competition.' This week Kamanga was granted a third term in office after eight nominees were controversially disqualified from standing against him in elections scheduled for next month because they failed to meet 'constitutional requirements'. They included candidates having to pass an integrity test and having five years' experience in a Faz leadership position – a stipulation that it has been claimed was added after the regulations were confirmed at last year's annual general meeting. Kamanga's unopposed re-election was described as the 'joke of the century' by the lawyer Keith Mweemba, the owner of the Zambian Super League club Muza who was one of those barred. Faz's former general secretary Adrian Kashala was another of the eight. They have until next week to appeal, although Kamanga – a 58-year-old accountant who made his fortune through his ownership of a power utility company – has been declared the winner by Faz's electoral committee. 'It tells you that the appeal process is academic,' says the president of another leading Zambian club who does not want to be named. 'They have definitely jumped the gun.' Chikumbi was ruled out after being deemed to not have the necessary experience and has decided against an appeal. He reported Kamanga and other senior members of Faz to Zambia's anti-corruption commission and its drug enforcement commission (DEC), which handles allegations of fraud and malpractice, a few hours after the news was made public on Tuesday, claiming they forged and altered the constitution to prevent the other candidates from standing. 'I feel that [an appeal] would be wasting my time,' Chikumbi says. 'So the best thing for me to do was then go to the courts, where I know that justice will be guaranteed.' Fifa prohibits government interference in any national association and may impose a normalisation committee on Zambia if the courts overrule Faz's decision over the elections. 'I would rather be banned by Fifa because Andrew Kamanga has been committing crimes against football in Zambia and getting away with it for many years,' Chikumbi says. World football's governing body did not respond to a request to comment. It is understood several of the prospective candidates are considering taking the case to the court of arbitration for sport if Fifa does not intervene. A boycott of domestic matches is also believed to have been discussed. That could be deeply damaging to Kamanga, who will run for a seat on the Fifa council in elections due to take place on 12 March in Cairo and has been backed by the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) and Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa). He was cleared to stand by Fifa's review committee despite being charged by the DEC with obtaining government funds under false pretences and being part of a conspiracy to defraud last year . Those charges put the women's team's participation at last year's Olympics at risk. It has been alleged that Kamanga used government funds to arrange trips for two associates to the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast last year. Faz's general secretary, Reuben Kamanga, was also arrested and charged, along with Madalitso Kamanga and Jairous Siame, who travelled to the tournament as part of Faz's support staff. All have denied the charges. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion The DEC confirmed last week that the case remained active, despite discussions having been initiated regarding a potential out-of-court settlement. According to Chikumbi and the other candidates, that should have made Andrew Kamanga ineligible to stand in the elections because the regulations prevent anyone who is the subject of pending criminal investigations from taking part. 'We all expected that he was going to stand down,' Chikumbi says. 'But to find himself on the ballot and ultimately [being declared] the winner unopposed is rather shocking. It's like being in jail and appealing your conviction and then saying: 'Because I've appealed I'm a free man, let me go home.' You wait until it has been determined. At the moment, he is a man accused of serious crimes and we don't recognise him as the president of Faz until we have proper elections.' Kamanga did not comment when contacted by the Guardian but pointed towards the DEC statement released last week that confirmed 'consultations on the possibility of an out-of-court settlement commenced. This route is still under way.' He has also faced criticism for his handling of the sexual misconduct allegations against the former Zambia women's team coach Bruce Mwape, who remains under investigation by Fifa after allegations that he intentionally touched the breast of a Fifa contractor and rubbed his hands over the chest of a player after a training session at the Women's World Cup in 2023. Mwape was replaced by Nora Hauptle last month but 'remains a core member of our wider technical development programme', according to a Faz statement at the time. 'They want to flout the rules when it's convenient for them but we've had enough,' says the club president. 'We would rather not play football at all than have Kamanga staying on as a dictator.'
