• SHEPOLOPOLO players at the FAZ Technical Centre in Lusaka yesterday where they were pressing for payment of their allowances after participating at TN Mobile Africa Women Championship in Namibia. Picture by SANDRA MWILA

By SANDRA MWILA –

THE Shepolopolo players yesterday protested over the K100 allowances given to them by the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) for participating at the TN Mobile 9th Africa Women Championship in Namibia.
The players, who arrived from Namibia on Sunday night, were found protesting at the FAZ Technical Centre situated near the Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYDC) in Lusaka yesterday whilst displaying the K100 notes.
Players from within Lusaka were given K100 while those from the Copperbelt were given K150 to cater for their transportation costs but the players demanded to be paid the US$80 per day allowances promised during the duration of their stay in Windhoek.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the players said they were given the money by their team manager Besa Chibwe, who bolted afterwards leaving the players at the centre.
“How do they expect us to deliver good results when we are not motivated? They used to tell us that we should qualify for the Africa Women Championship and we did just that but still we have not been awarded our winning bonuses.
The visibly incensed players said in an interview that when they queried about their allowances as promised, Besa told them that she had no idea and only cared about her own affairs.
“We asked our team manager about our allowances but she said that she was a teacher and all she knows was about her pay slip and her allowances. Our friend Ethel Chama, who broke her leg, will not be able to pay medical bills,” they said.
However, FAZ vice president Boniface Mwamelo said the confusion arose because the players were given their transport refunds ahead of the allowances, making them conclude that was the only money they would be given.
“I left Besa and our treasurer Kelvin Mutafu preparing the schedule and if they are not paid this evening (yesterday), then latest tomorrow morning (today),” Mwamelo said.
Zambia lost her opening game 2-0 to Namibia before suffering a 6-0 bashing to Nigeria but managed a 1-all draw against Ivory Coast.
One of the players said she was hoping to have a breast operation from the money to be earned from the qualifiers and competition and questioned how it would be able to do all that in a K100.
“I have a growth on my right breast and I am supposed to go for an operation but it won’t be possible now because the K100 is nothing and my parents know that I am a footballer and they no longer source for money for me,” she said.
The players complained that they had abandoned school because of football commitments and the K100 given to them was an insult.
“We deserve better than this because some of us have missed out on school owing to football commitments and this is how we are paid backed,” they said.
The players wondered why they could not enjoy the same treatment as the men’s football team enjoyed. There was no point of having a women side if it can be sponsored and the sport must be stopped.
“We see no benefit of playing football because we do sweat but do not get any sweet in return, after all the under 17 are doing well they can also take over the national team,” they said.