.FAZ President Kalusha Bwalya
By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE –
FOOTBALL Association of Zambia (FAZ) president, Kalusha Bwalya has said time is not ripe for a local coach to be given the Chipolopolo job.
Kalusha said it was unlikely that a local coach would get the Chipolopolo job soon because it was difficult to find one with attributes that can take the team forward.
The FAZ chief said this when he appeared on Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) programme dubbed ‘On the ball’ on Wednesday night that there were few local coaches that were coaching their national teams on the continent.
Kalusha said interim Chipolopolo coach Patrice Beaumelle is highly qualified to take over as head coach following the departure of Herve Renard in October for French side, FC Sochaux.
He said the Beaumelle would get the first bite on a cherry as he had been with the team for a long time adding that the Frenchman was a good coach whom he described as well prepared and well educated for the challenge.
Kalusha, who is also Confederations of African Football (CAF) executive member, said the majority of countries on the African continent had turned to foreign coaches owing to the vast experience and expertise such coaches possess adding that FAZ would not rule out a possibility of a Zambian taking over as Chipolopolo coach.
“I think if you give us two to three years by the fourth year maybe, we will be able to employ a local coach for the national team. For now, Patrice is a good coach; he is well prepared.
We will see but the only problem is that for him to be tested, it will be in September, October, and November when we start playing qualifiers for the 2015 AFCON. In the meantime we are only playing friendly games and preparation matches,” he said.
He added that it was hard to find a local coach with the attributes that FAZ were looking for in a coach to take the Chipolopolo forward.
“So it is a big task for a Zambian and I do not know why we would want a Zambian to be coach because most of the other countries on the continent have foreigners as coaches. 90 per cent of 53 African countries have foreign coaches with the exception of Keshi and Kwesi Appiah the Ghanaian coach.” Kalusha said.
