Zambia courting FIFA sanctions as AGM aborts after court injunction

Despite delegates arriving for the meeting at the Government Complex in Lusaka, football administrator Damiano Mutale and journalist Mabvuto Phiri threw in a spanner by obtaining a court injunction from a Ndola High Court which eventually stopped the exercise.

What did FAZ say about the aborted meeting?

A statement signed by FAZ Communications Manager Sydney Mungala and obtained by Flashcore News confirmed the planned AGM had been postponed indefinitely following a sustained court order.

“The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) wishes to inform its members and stakeholders that the planned Annual General Meeting (AGM) has been postponed indefinitely following a sustained court order,” read part of the letter seen by Flashscore News.

“High Court Judge Greenwell Malumani threw out the FAZ application to discharge the injunction filed by two non-members Damiano Mutale and journalist Mabvuto Phiri. Judge Malumani had set Saturday 27th April 2024, as the date for interparte hearing with the FAZ turning up for the court hearing.

“After declining to discharge the ex-parte injunction, Judge Malumani set Thursday, May 2 as the date for interparte hearing (to hear arguments from the lawyers from both sides).”

FAZ Secretary General Reuben Kamanga called for patience saying the Association would communicate on the next step. “The meeting was unable to take off due to the sustained injunction by the High Court,” explained Kamanga.

“We had respectfully turned up at the court to apply for the discharge of the injunction but the court declined our application and set a new date for interparty hearing which is Thursday. We advise our members to remain calm and pledge to keep them informed at all stages.”

What did FIFA say before the aborted AGM?

A day before the AGM on Friday, April 26th, FIFA directed FAZ to go ahead and hold the AGM as per constitutional requirements despite a court order halting the same.

In a letter dated April 26th signed by FIFA Member Associations Officer Kenny Jean-Marie and copied to FAZ secretary Kamanga, the world governing body termed the court order as third-party interference and warned of severe sanctions if the meeting did not proceed as planned.

“Please note that the order of the High Court of Zambia dated 24 April 2024 appears to clearly amount to undue influence by third parties which could be considered as a violation of Article 19 paragraph 1 of the FIFA Statutes and Article 7 paragraph 1.g. of the CAF Statutes,” read part of the letter from FIFA.

“As a result, FIFA takes the view that any further attempt by a third party to prevent the FAZ Annual General Meeting from taking place might be considered a violation of the above-mentioned principle, which would oblige our institution to bring the matter to the attention of the relevant FIFA bodies for consideration of possible sanctions in line with the FIFA Statutes.

“For the avoidance of doubt, please note that the infringement of the aforementioned provisions of the FIFA and CAF Statutes may give rise to grounds for the suspension of FAZ irrespective of whether the infringement was attributed to FAZ or not.”

FIFA further stated that any suspension by FAZ would deprive Zambia of any sporting participation with any country dealing with Zambia risking sanctions.

“Finally, we would like to remind you that a suspended member association may not exercise any of its membership rights. Other member associations may not entertain sporting contact with a suspended member association. The Disciplinary Committee may impose further sanctions (cf. art. 16 par. 3 of the FIFA Statutes and art.8 par.3 of the CAF Statutes). A suspended member association loses all its membership rights, as defined in art. 13 of the FIFA Statutes and art. 6 of the CAF Statutes, with immediate effect and until further notice.

“Likewise, the representative teams as well as the affiliated clubs of this federation can no longer take part in international competitions until the suspension has been lifted.”

The statement concluded: “In view of the foregoing, FAZ is directed to conduct its Annual General Meeting (AGM).”

What did FAZ President Kamanga say?

FAZ President Andrew Kamanga promised to navigate through the crisis and work closely with FIFA to avert a possible ban. “Naturally the football family is still reeling from the aftereffects of the foiled AGM but we are hopeful that the football family will navigate its way out of this crisis. We have not just incurred unnecessary costs but also suffered the infamy of mixing politics with football management,” said Kamanga in a statement seen by Flashscore News.

“It may not be prudent to bore the football family with what may have been done right but we are working in the background to ensure that our game survives a possible ban from world soccer governing body FIFA. The world soccer governing body has more than provided guidance on the way out of our current crisis. FAZ has taken it upon itself to be fully compliant of all the possibilities that may ensure that Zambia averts a possible ban from FIFA. We have made it a point to be compliant with the laws of the land and also football laws.”

Kamanga further took issues with those inviting a FIFA ban by saying: “Curiously, there are some stakeholders that are seemingly excited at the prospects of a possible ban. A few are not even domiciled in our country and can therefore not bear the brunt of a possible ban as they enjoy the glories of social media to fan the fire. Our duty remains to do our best to preserve the integrity of our game.

“FIFA has routinely guided that football disputes can only be resolved through established channels within FAZ or FIFA statutes. It is a point we have belabored over the years to induct non-football persons with football interests to appreciate. However, we are mindful of the wishy-washy situations that overwhelm third parties that desire to take over the management of the game through the back door. Our position remains that we will be respectful of both national and FIFA rules in negotiating our way out of this crisis.”

What a possible FIFA ban means for Zambia

Should FIFA ban the Copper Belt nation, the first casualties will be the national women’s team Copper Queens, who will be deprived of the chance to play in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in July. The Copper Queens under coach Bruce Mwape qualified for the Games following a 3-2 aggregate victory against Morocco’s Atlas Lionesses.

After losing the first leg 2-0 at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola, the Copper Queens recovered to beat the Atlas Lionesses 2-0 at the Prince Moulay EL Hassan Stadium. The ban will also see Zambia’s Chipolopolo locked out of the World Cup qualifying matches.

Zambia are in Group E of the qualifiers and they started their campaign with a 4-2 victory against Congo on November 17th, 2023, before losing 2-1 against Niger on November 21st, 2023. They are scheduled to play two matches in June, away to Morocco before returning home to host Tanzania.

“Everything we will do will be meant to ensure that our Copper Queens do not miss out on their hard-earned Olympic Games participation, the Chipolopolo continue participation in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the under-17 girls remain in the thick of FIFA World Cup qualifiers," explained Kamanga. 

"FIFA has more than made it clear that if Zambia remains adamant about this litigious path non-FAZ members have embraced, we will be sanctioned. Every well-meaning Zambian knows that it would be scandalous for our teams to be barred from participating in international events at the instigation of non-members.

“A FIFA ban would mean non-participation in the Olympics for our Copper Queens, Chipolopolo won’t take part in FIFA World Cup qualifiers, U17 girls will forfeit qualifiers for the World Cup with the women senior national team barred from participating in the WAFCON that they have already qualified for. We do not know of any sane Zambian that wishes such wretchedness for our great nation.”

According to Kamanga, FIFA has given FAZ up to April 30th to furnish them with all the information about the Zambian situation before they can make a decision.

“We are hopeful that we can find a solution long before FIFA has to intervene. As FAZ we have been in touch with all critical stakeholders to ensure that we quickly resolve this impasse. FIFA provided a sense of what we have to do to avert possible sanctions and from the FAZ end, we have been impressing on stakeholders to take heed,” said Kamanga.

He concluded: “Finally, we appeal to all soccer-loving Zambians to remain calm as we navigate our way through this crisis. While the embarrassment of having a legitimately and legally sanctioned AGM will be with us for a long time, we have no doubt that common sense will eventually prevail.”