Kamanga Hails Sponsorship Growth in Zambian Football Ahead of FAZ Elections
Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Andrew Kamanga has highlighted significant improvements in sponsorship for Zambian football during his tenure. Speaking ahead of the reconvened FAZ Elective Annual General Meeting in Kabwe on Friday, May 9, Kamanga pointed to substantial increases in funding for clubs, particularly in the Zambian Super League.
“When we came in, clubs were getting as low as K7,000,” Kamanga stated. “I had to move that from K7,000. We started with K200,000, it went up to K400,000, today it’s K1.2 million.”
Drawing on his experience as the former chairman of Kabwe Warriors, Kamanga emphasized the positive shift. “I came from club football, I was chairman for Kabwe Warriors for over 5 years, we were getting that little. Today, as we speak, clubs are getting more money from their sponsors.”
Kamanga explained that the creation of the Zambian Premier League (ZPL) was a strategic move to enhance the commercial viability of the sport. “That is why we created the Zambia Premier League, to separate it because it’s a commercial arm of FAZ, and my dream is that we should get to a point where clubs are able to cover their costs from the sponsorship money which will come from ZPL. Whatever they are being given by their sponsors is money they should be investing in buying players and improving on infrastructure and those kinds of things. So you can say it’s a drop in the ocean, but it’s far much better.”
Looking ahead to a potential new term, Kamanga outlined the financial commitments he is proposing. “The national Division One teams received K500,000 at the beginning of this current season. It’s better than where they are coming from. What I’m promising, that’s what I’m putting on the table, the same figures I’m working with minimum, which means it can be anything depending on the ZPL raising prize money for the season. These are figures which are there: Super League K1.8 million, national Division One K500,000, women have already got the sponsor in Eden, provincials they’ll get K100,000 for a cup, K55,000 for the women’s cup, K100,000 for the men’s cup.”
In a significant development, Kamanga revealed that FIFA will directly fund provincial teams. “I’ve also heard that because we’ve now reached a point where there’s decentralization working effectively, FIFA now is going to disburse the grants which are paid to the clubs countrywide, direct into the provinces. We don’t want Football House to be overseeing these funds.”
