. Kamanga

By Sandra Mwila –
FOOTBALL Association of Zambia (FAZ president Andrew Kamanga believes Zambian football is moving in the right direction going by huge sums of money being injected into clubs.
And Sports Minister Moses Mawere says there is a lot of room for more corporatesponsors into Zambian football.
In a speech read on his behalf by his vice-president Rix Mweemba at the MTN-FAZawards gala in Kitwe, Kamanga said the past season had seen a sharp increase in the money injected by clubs which thereby increased competition.
He said the continued injection of money by individual and corporatebodies into clubs was a good sign and showed that the sport was growing and catching up with leading world trends.
“Zambian football is on the right path, we have noticed steady increase in investment in some of our teams in the super division,Lusaka Dynamos, Lumwana Radiants, City of Lusaka and Buildcon for example allhad some investment at the start of the season,” Kamanga said.
He added that with the steady rise in investment and competition, Zambia was now attracting a lot of foreign players which raised the standards of the game.
Kamanga said the number of foreign players wishing to hone their skills in the Zambian league has continued to rise which has given theleague the much needed excitement and competition.
“Our league has become a preferred destination for players whowish to come and hone their careers here, this has been witnessed bythe increase in the number of players coming from outside,” Kamangasaid.
He said the association would continue to work hard to attract morecorporate sponsorship into the game.
And Mawere,also in a speech read on him by acting Copperbeltpermanent secretary Joyce Nsamba, hailed FAZ and MTN-Zambia upliftingthe standards of football in the country.
He however, said there was need for more sponsorship in football tosustain the good work that had been achieved so far.
He called on the other corporate entities in the country to emulate MTN andBarclays Bank Zambia to invest in football.
And MTN-Zambia northern region general manager John Muyawala said hiscompany is committed to continuing partnering with FAZ   to developthe game.
The MTN-FAZ league sponsorship deal expires this monthend