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FAZ President Andrew Kamanga has shed light on the association’s appointment of FIFA referee Janny Sikazwe as Technical Director.
And Zambia Football Coaches Association (ZAFCA) chairperson Daniel Kabwe says the Technical Directorate is a very important office in the development of the game.
Meanwhile Sports Minister Moses Mawere has urged the media to focus more on the developmental and not political side of the game.
During a historic coaches’ caucus at New Government Complex sponsored by Tomorrow Investments, Kamanga said that Technical Director was more than just a coaching designation.
Kamanga said FIFA had a manual that stipulated the benchmarks for any association’s directorate that was linked to the FIFA Forward Funding.
“We need to appreciate that the Technical Directorate is not just about coaching, it is about other aspects of the game including officiating where Janny is coming from,” he said.
“…as far as we are concerned we have taken into account all the elements. The key profile requirements for the office of the Technical Director is that one should have some knowledge of football, he doesn’t have to be a professional footballer, and he should have some knowledge about coaching, some knowledge about the rules of the game. There should also be leadership qualities which essentially is the key, it should be a leadership position because it is coordination point, and there are organization skills required.”
Kamanga added: “I think this is where we need to be very clear, there is a FIFA Technical Director manual which speaks of all the expectations of that department. I think that is why we took a decision at FAZ to consider Mr Janny Sikazwe to be in that office. Simply because we are looking at ensuring that we continue to develop. Most importantly the President of ZAFCA alluded to the fact that we need to increase the number of coaches and it is that project which will continue to draw programs for coaches.”
He said FAZ had signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Education that would be implemented through the Technical Directorate.
“If you look at where we are coming from, in 2016 FIFA introduced what they are calling the FIFA Forward Funding and the office of the Technical Director is an integral part. Through that office what is expected from all members of FIFA is that the Technical Directorate will continue to be the fulcrum of our football development in the sense that it will be responsible for grassroots football, women football development and will be responsible for youth development,” he said.
“If we bring it closer to FAZ, we have signed an MOU with the Ministry of Education to undertake a grassroots program. This is where it becomes even more critical because if you look at grassroots football, we want to go back to the basics where we have football being played at Primary, Secondary schools and indeed higher education before we look at where we are in terms of semi-professional as well as professional.”
And Mawere hailed the ZAFCA caucus urging the coaches to invest in knowledge so that there would be no need to hire expatriates.
Meanwhile Kabwe said ZAFCA was targeting setting up a presence in the 120 districts across the country.
ZAFCA also honoured various excelling coaches among them Beston Chambeshi, Bilton Musonda and Yona Phiri for the 2017 U20 Africa Cup of Nations victory.
Others honoured were Numba Mumamba, Charles Bwale, Kalililo Kakonje and Perry Mutapa for the 2017 Cosafa U17 trophy.
The women bench led by Bruce Mwape, Kape Saili and Carol Kanyemba eraned recognition for the qualification to the 2018 Africa Cup of Nations.
