THE concerns raised by Chipolopolo team doctor Joseph Kabungo against clubs using injured players needs to be taken seriously by all teams in the Zambian Premier League.
Ronald ‘Sate Sate’ Kampamba’s case could just be one of the many cases that are yet to be detected. The player has been made to play competitive games for the past two weeks or more while carrying an ankle injury.
It had to take Kabungo to recommend that the player undergoes a magnetic resonate imaging (MRI) scan to determine the extent of the damage which could prove to be a career threatening injury on Kampamba.
I am sure this news has not been welcomed well in the Nkana camp ahead of their league match against Zanaco tomorrow before trekking to Ivory Coast to face Sewe Sport in a must-win fixture to qualify for the CAF Confederation Cup tournament.
Just wondering what would have happened if it was not for this three-day training camp for the national team bearing in mind that Kampamba played full minutes in the 1-0 win over Al Ahly.
It means the player would have continued playing under the pain of the injury with no one bothered about his welfare? Or maybe it has been the player’s insistence to play with the injury?
I feel it is high time clubs put welfare of players top of the agenda as that is their livelihood and playing on with such injuries could have serious implications on the players.
Kabungo has thus advised clubs to start releasing players whenever called for national duty even injured so that the medical team can look at them.
I this hope will be taken seriously by clubs and should not be looked at in bad faith as a doctor, who is also a former player, has shown concern.
Team doctors of the respective clubs, those that have, should equally monitor the players and advise the coaches accordingly because at the end it’s the nation that will lose out as most of the players careers will end prematurely.
Away from football, I would like to commend my good friends at the Zambia Cricket union (ZCU) for organising well the Pespi 2014 International Cricket Council (ICC) Africa Under-19 tournament in Lusaka.
The ZCU executive led by Reuben Chama has demonstrated their ability to host such an important tournament. This is the same committee that also won an award from the ICC in April this year for the best 2013 development programmes in Africa.
It is from hosting such tournaments that future stars are able to be recognised and nurtured into senior team players.
Zambia might not have won the tournament but the lads have gained some exposure and given us a glimpse of what they can do.
Wishing you all a wonderful sporting weekend.  For comments: eliaschipepo@gmail.com