. Liwewe

By NDINAWE SIMPELWE –
FOOTBALL Association of Zambia general secretary Ponga Liwewe says the country is not short of coaches who can lead the national team at the COSAFA Castle Cup should George Lwandamina and his asistants be withdrawn by their clubs.
Chipolopolo may head to the COSAFA tournament without the head coach Lwandamina and his assistants Aggrey Chiyangi and Elijah Chikwanda as both have been asked to report back to their clubs to concentrate on the local league.
But Liwewe said in an interview that he had not received any official correspondence from the clubs to have their coaches withdrawn from the national team and he expected everyone to report when the team regroups on Sunday.
“We have released the coaches for this weekend to be with their clubs for league games and we expect them back on Sunday when the team regroups. I have not received any official communication from any clubs asking to withdraw their coach, all I have seen are media reports and I cannot just act on media reports without official communication,” Liwewe said.
On Thursday Nkana chairperson Evaristo Kabila said the club had decided to recall Chiyangi from the national to concentrate on the club duties following two consecutive draws in his absence.
This was after Zesco United had already asked Lwandamina to concentrate the team for both the league and Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League group stages.
“The country has a lot of coaches who can help in the short term. We are not short of coaches who can handle such situations.
“Having someone to work in the interim is not a big problem. There is always someone and that is an issue we are not worried about. What we are currently working on is to have a coach on full time basis and we will have him very soon.” Liwewe said.
Meanwhile, Liwewe said the association is ready to amend the constitution despite the short notice from FIFA.
He said there was uncertainty among lower division clubs concerning the reduction of the Electoral College but assured that them they would remain members and enjoy all the benefits.
“The deadline was set so we will work towards that. I think we will manage despite the limited time because it is not the whole constitution we are amending but just a few parts.
“To our members, there is a lot of uncertainty but everyone should know that this came from FIFA and it’s not only unique to FAZ. But despite the reduction on the electoral college, they will remain our members,” Liwewe said.