By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE –

THE Zambia Football Coaches Association (ZAFCA) says the death of FAZ Division Two side Police Blue Stars striker, Gregory Kunda should be a wake-up call on the importance of health check-ups of all the players.
ZAFCA has since called on the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) to introduce a committee of medical doctors to look into the well-being of players’ health.
ZAFCA vice-president Lewis Shambulo said in an interview yesterday that there was need for serious introspection on the need for routine health check-ups for players across the country.
Kunda died two days after colliding with a Lime Hotspurs defender during a FAZ Division Two Copperbelt match that was played in Chingola on Sunday.
“Someone needs to be responsible for the players’ health. Routine health checks are very important in football and I would recommend that we have a body that will be overseeing the health of players to avoid such unfortunate events,” Shambulo said.
He said the death of Kunda was a big loss to the nation and that there was need to put in place measures that would prevent future occurrences.
“It is a very big loss that we could lose a player, who had great ambitions in his career. This development should teach us something as coaches, and clubs in particular, that we should prioritise routine health check-ups for our players.
“I would like to sympathise with the family and the club at large for the loss of a young talent who could have contributed immensely to the success of his club,” he said.
Shambulo appealed to clubs in lower divisions to start investing in medical personnel.
He said there was need to curb the practice that had seen a number of lower division clubs engage physiotherapists as opposed to medical doctors.
“The problem we have is that clubs in lower divisions cannot afford to engage medical doctors, hence they go to physiotherapists whom they can manage to pay and that is a serious gap when it comes to the health of players,” Shambulo said.