•SIMATAA

By SHAMAOMA MUSONDA –
POWER Dynamos Football Club committee member, Andrew Kamanga has described the life ban slapped on former Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Simataa Simataa as harsh.
Kamanga said in an interview yesterday that the life ban slapped on Simataa by FAZ will see Zambia coming out as the biggest loser.
The former Kabwe Warriors chairperson and once leader of a faction that ran as a parallel association to the Kalusha Bwalya-led FAZ in 2011, said that Simataa was still a useful administrator who had a lot to offer.
Kamanaga said he has always known Simataa to be a football person who presently had a rich knowledge of the game that country needed to make use of.
“It is regrettable and unfortunate to lose a person who has been in football for such a long time. If there is an opportunity, it should be used to resolve this matter. Simataa, to me, is still very useful to the country and football,” he said.
Kamanga expressed fear that some of the reasons advanced for imposing the life ban was that Simataa had sued FAZ saying that the matter had not been disposed off in court and that the decision by FAZ was prejudicial.
He said the ban was too harsh and one he hopes when a new executive comes into office, would quickly review and possibly overturn.
“Simataa has a track record of success in what he does in football and everyone knows that he is a very dedicated man to the sport. I think we better make use of that. The punishment is rather harsh,” Kamanga said.
In a later dated March 23, 2014 addressed to Simataa, FAZ general secretary George Kasengele said Simataa had been banned after he was found guilty of violating the FAZ Disciplinary Code and the Constitution.
Kasengele said the decision was arrived at during a Disciplinary Committee meeting that convened on February 1.
“We refer to our letters dated 20th December 2013 and 27 January 2014. You will recall that on 20th December 2013, you were informed that you had made utterance against the Football Association of Zambia on a Radio Phoenix programme of the same date where you appeared together with Daniel Kaoma and Zacks Machaliwa.
In that letter, you were requested to exculpate yourself of those remarks but you chose to send an email requesting for proof,” read Kasengele’s letter.