By NDINAWE SIMPELWE –
EXPELLED Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) vice-president Richard Kazala has denied seven of the 12 charges he is supposed to exculpate himself on during the association’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in March.
And FAZ General Secretary Ponga Liwewe says the legal committee will decide whether expelled executive committee member Blackwell Siwale will be given a chance to be heard at the AGM.
Both Kazala and Siwale were expelled from FAZ for allegedly bringing the name of the game and the association into disrepute.
But Kazala appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which ruled that he be given a chance to exculpate himself on 12 charges slapped on him, pointing out that the FAZ Council did not follow procedure when expelling the duo.
In an interview, Liwewe confirmed that Kazala had written to deny seven of the charges and only acknowledged five of them.
The CAS ruling stated that FAZ could not add new charges to the list of allegations against Kazala ahead of the AGM.
Ponga said the charges against Kazala remained the same 12 circulated in correspondence to all councillors before the expulsion.
“I wouldn’t want to speak on his behalf as to why he is denying the other charges but records are there to show that there are 12 charges.
The councillors who voted to expel him made the decision based on the 12 charges,” Liwewe said.
He however could not disclose which charges Kazala refused to acknowledge.
Among charges Kazala is expected to exculpate himself from include failing to account for money raised from a World Cup qualifier and undermining FAZ president Andrew Kamanga by declaring himself the president of FAZ.
“Right now, the issue is with the legal committee but as far as the council is concerned, there are 12 charges. Maybe Kazala is treating the charges separately because he was charged twice but they were 12 in total,” Liwewe said.
Meanwhile Liwewe said the legal committee will decide if Siwale will exculpate himself at the AGM.
He said the CAS ruling directed FAZ to give Kazala chance to exculpate himself but did not do the same for Siwale.
Siwale’s appeal to CAS is reported to have been submitted late hence the ruling excluded him though CAS asked the council to decide whether he should also be allowed to defend himself.
“This issue is complex so before I confirm if Siwale will be at the AGM or not, we will wait for guidance from the legal committee which is looking at the matter,” Liwewe said.
Siwale last week said he was hoping to see justice prevail at the AGM as he believed he will be accorded the chance to give his side of the story that led to his expulsion.