By NDINAWE SIMPELWE and ADRIAN MWANZA –
CHIPOLOPOLO coach George Lwandamina has distanced himself from the COSAFA Cup team list released by the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ).
Lwandamina said in an interview yesterday that the list of the team he named and forwarded to FAZ was not for the COSAFA tournament but for the routine one-week assessment camp meant to check the progress of players.
He also wondered why some players had been removed from the list he drafted.
Lwandamina said the technical bench had not yet come up with a list of the team for the COSAFA Cup and would only do so after checking a good number of players from the local ‘assessment’ camp.
“That list is not for the COSAFA Cup. I called the team which went to Rwanda (for the CHAN tournament) for assessment. It has been routine for a long time.
“Then if there will be any inclusions or subtractions, that will come later. So players should continue working extra hard,” said Lwandamina.
He said the communication from FAZ on the one-week assessment camp was not correct because selection of players for the COSAFA Cup and also the Africa Cup qualifier against Guinea Bissau in June will only be done after assessing the local players.
Chipolopolo team manager Stanley Kaseko on Tuesday released a 22-man team to start preparing for the June COSAFA  Cup.
The list released by Kaseko saw veterans Isaac Chansa and Christopher Katongo as well Christopher Munthali and Mwape Mwelwa missing from the team despite being part of the CHAN tournament.
“And there are players who have been removed from the list, I don’t know who removed them.
“The players should just continue working harder, the assessment process is a continuous one and we haven’t selected a team for any match yet,” Lwandamina said.
And FAZ president Andrew Kamanga has described the death of former Chipolopolo team manager Solly Pandor as a big blow to the football fraternity in the country.
Speaking at Pandor’s funeral on Wednesday evening, Kamanga said Pandor was a dedicated servant of the game and a manager whose service had left an indelible mark on Zambian football.
“We are profoundly saddened by the death of Pandor because the success and management of the national team we see today is partly because of the foundations laid by this dedicated son of the game,” Kamanga said.
Pandor died in the early hours of Wednesday and was buried the same day at the Leopards Hill cemetery after prayers at the Burma Road Mosque.
And Sports Council of Zambia (SCZ) board member Haroon Ghumra, who knew Pandor for more than 30 years, said the late former team manager was instrumental in the improvement of football in the country.
“We worked together for over 20 years when we were board members at LICEF School and he was instrumental in the improvement of sports at the school,” he said.