FAZ in talks over England friendly
By Cecilia Nayame in Ndola
THE Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) is courting England for an international friendly match with the Copper Queens as part of preparations for the upcoming Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON).
FAZ president Keith Mweemba said in an interview in Ndola yesterday that the association was also engaged in talks with Burkina Faso and Kenya over the possibility of staging a Three-Nations Tournament in Zambia in June.
“Of course, we want to see how best we can continue preparing the Copper Queens ahead of WAFCON. Apparently, we are in talks with Burkina Faso as well as Kenya. Though it’s not something concrete yet, but at least just to inform you that something is being done,” Mweemba said.
He said FAZ would update the nation once discussions with the prospective teams were concluded.
“We want to host this tournament most likely in June. We are also discussing with England, we are working around something, they also want to play Zambia,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mweemba has urged members of the football fraternity to desist from rushing to the local courts whenever disputes arise in the game.
Mweemba said aggrieved parties should instead make use of the provisions in the FAZ Constitution to resolve disputes through established football channels.
“Let’s try by all means to make use of our Constitution, which is very clear when it comes to issues to do with courts. We need to avoid situations where FAZ starts receiving instructions from FIFA to ban our members for failure to follow the Constitution,” he said in his closing remarks during the FAZ annual general meeting (AGM) in Ndola.
Mweemba also appealed to football stakeholders to remain democratic and obedient to the FAZ Constitution when handling disputes.
“We all need to remain democratic in all we do. Let’s remain obedient to our Constitution. Let us resolve all our football issues through the right channels,” he said.
Recently, Zesco United dragged FAZ and the Zambian Premier League (ZPL) to the High Court of Zambia following the club’s exclusion from participating in the 2026 Absa Cup.
The legal action resulted in Zesco United being disqualified from competing in the Super League and other competitions before the club later withdrew the case.
