February 13, 2009
And defender Elijah Tana who traveled to Angola to finalise his move to top side Petro Atletico was expected to link up with the national team yesterday.
Chipungu said time was ripe for the national team to put to good use the money they received from Zambians.
Addressing national team players and technical bench in Lusaka yesterday, Chipungu said it was painful to see the national team losing despite receiving huge financial support from the government.
He said members of Parliament especially those from opposition parties have taken him to task over the huge funding to the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) when results were not corresponding with the money spent.
Chipungu said football was a unifying sport that brought people of different backgrounds together.
He also said he would not meet the national team players if they performed badly at the CHAN finals.
“I do not want to associate with losses. Do not bring me losses from the CHAN finals. If you bring losses I will not shake hands or have lunch with you,” said Chipungu who boasted that he was a good goalkeeper and striker in his hey day in the 1970s.
He warned that it was possible to disband the national team if results did not improve.
“But we do not want to disband the team. So I expect results to improve,” Chipungu said.
He also advised players to combine football and education.
“My sons, you are still young and your brains are still fresh. You have to aim to complete Grade 12. At times I get upset to see our players going to Europe and then abandon school.
“FAZ should ensure that they include an education clause in the transfer of players to Europe,” Chipungu said.
Deputy Minister of Sport Christopher Kalila said he was proud to contribute players to the national team.
“Patrick (Kasunga), Figo (Ignatius Lwipa), Perry (Mubanga) stand up. I nurtured these boys and I’m happy that they are part of the national team. I have also groomed Rainford Kalaba, Jacob Mulenga, Joseph Zimba and Christopher Musonda,” said Kalila, a former Afrisport Football Club chairman.
And national team coach Herve Renard said they were targeting to manage a semi-final berth at the CHAN finals.
He, however, said the path to success would be rough.
At the CHAN finals, Zambia is in Group A against hosts Ivory Coast, Senegal and Tanzania while Group B comprises Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya and Zimbabwe. [Daily Mail]
71 Comments on "Sports Minister: Don’t waste tax payers’ money"
| COPYRIGHT © 2007-2011 Zamfoot Sports Agency. All rights reserved. |
Sharpy on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 11:48 AM
Players take da lecture serious support u hav were behind u. peace!
Jimbo on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 11:53 AM
The cat is loose, go chipolopolo go! This group is fair to say the least. Apart from Ivory coast and maybe Tanzania as well, i don’t think Senegal has done well with local teams in the african champions league and confederations cup. maybe, just maybe, we can be a better side come February 22….good luck!
Uncle Bobs on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 11:55 AM
Zamfoot,
Who is Patrick (Kasunga) one of the players the Deputy Minister made to stand up? I have never heard of this player. Kindly educate me on this player and his current club as well as his position of play.
Shidada, Namibia on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 12:03 PM
Ba Zambia Bulanda bwekabweka
Munee on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 12:15 PM
Hon Chipungu work hard and sort out the Sports Infrastructure,otherwise u are wasting Tax Payers Money on Fuel, Allowances and Salary.
Billy on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 12:27 PM
Nice word Mr Minister. But my advice to you is that we will keep wasting tax payers money as long as the national team is ill-prepared. You reap what sow. Thats the law of nature.
Justice Kafusha on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 12:54 PM
Jacob Mulenga is named in the 16 man Berrichonne squad to face Strasbourg today. Felix Katongo and Sunzu are not in the squad
DaMwiinger on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 2:01 PM
@Munee
Nice one Munee. Politicians are just jokers!!! Let him do his proper job of providing infranstructure instead of bubbling about not shaking players hands if they lose.
Justice Kafusha on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 3:11 PM
Chipungu I won’t shake hands with you until you build a stadium
Emmanuel on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 3:23 PM
Chipungu
word deleted.42 years after independence we do nt ve a studiam ad expect miracles from da boyz.shout up brother minister ad constrate on eating taxi paye money.the government has done nothing to imrove soccer standards.i wound hw far some of these so called nu deal minster went in education.they cn nt even alys easy thing.fi minister bulandaSibs. on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 3:46 PM
Way to go guys these Politicians are just full of talk.Whiles we appreciate the support to the team Mr.Minister whats the real story on stadium in Ndola we have been waitng for the soil sample results for more than a year.What of Independo Stadium…. we tired of your games. We need action from Govt.
Vincent Numbwa on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 4:13 PM
We need stadia in our country.Government has a duty to ensure that we have these infrastruture in place otherwise expecting good results from our teams with not make sense.
It is really sad that DRC,Malawi,Zim,TZ and Angola have better sports infrastructure than Zambia. When fans ask for inprovements in sports facilites they expect govenment to react just like governments of our neighbouring countries have done. In effect government is suppose to be proactive and not reactive but to honest I dont know if our government is either of the aforesaid.
vipack on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 4:23 PM
we should be encouraging the boys to go to battle with confidence and not telling them about tax payers money.
Go boys and make zambia proud. Should you lose, i will still welcome you at the airport for your bravery fight. For HR we are behind you man.
kuku on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 5:30 PM
Mr Chipungu should not have the audacity to intimidate the young boys who are carrying our flag high lest we stay as an unknown nation with perpetual untapped potential to become a middle income nation. Yes guys I agree, the last word from every contribution should be infrastructure.
When Cecil Rhodes came here he said he will build a railway and he could see no obstacles. It is some of the natives who showed skepticism saying, Kwaliba Iminkonko (valleys), Kwaba nefipoma (falls), Kwaba namateshi (swamps and mashes. Didn’t Kaunda in collaboration with the Chinese build an all weather conquering road through a mash (TUTA road coupled with the longest bridge in Africa, and UNZA structure was simply a master piece it has so much room for improvement. I stand to be corrected by I understand they got some part of their payment in copper.
Sports infrastructure is part of the deal in a country that loves sports. All loans are on us. Kaunda got them, the only thing is that he stayed too long in power and the other mistake was that the economy was closed-shortage of commodities which could have been supplied by other countries was unjustified. Economists know what went wrong. Any loans on infrastructure development are right. They call it capacity building.
Prepare your farmland Mr Minister i dont know if what you can do will be enough, we want infrastructure development (sports and grain silos).
Go-Zambia-Go win the CHAN
F-15 on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 6:03 PM
Al the best boys
F-15 on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 6:08 PM
the money is in for the ndola stadia. So there hope
Never on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 6:08 PM
If politicians themselves are are wasting tax payers money(NCC and others) what do you expect from a simple footballer? ‘Do unto others as you want them to do unto you’
Emmanuel on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 7:12 PM
Mr chipungu your boss went to mfuwe with the entire family to worst tax payee money ,all in the name of a working holiday barly 2 months in office.in his first 5 months he has made more trips than any other president.politician are givin themselfs 1.5 million daily allowances.the list goes.chiwamila galu kuluma mbuzi.
Emmanuel on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 7:15 PM
1.5 million @ the ncc
Justice Kafusha on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 10:40 PM
Zamfoot can I have Chipungus telephone number if at all you have it. I really want to talk to this fool
Romantic Monk on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 11:04 PM
The minister is right. Some of us pay tax over 30% of our income and our dear footballer go and waste it all with no glory. Check the stadia that are used for training by our brothers from west africa, infrastructure is not the issue but discipline and determination. Check want happened to Ivory Coast when one Robert Gaye sent the footballer into prison, the whole world condemned him but check where Ivory Coast is today. They’re now more serious because they know that it’s tax payers money. Stadia has nothing to do with good results. Good job Minister.
Mwansa Katunga Fredrick on Sat, 14th Feb 2009 7:34 PM
we wish you good luck boys, go for it. we are happy that you have a very good coach. you mus get to understand him as he will understand each one of you. then you shall build a very strong team that wil bring praises to mother Zambia. Very concerned Zambian from Angola.
Uncle Bobs on Mon, 16th Feb 2009 5:15 PM
Awe Ba Justice, iyo language teyo. Hon Chipungu is actually a very welcoming man as i found out when i met him. Not all of us went to play for the National Team and Zambian Big Teams.
For example i played for UNZA (was actually Captain in my final year in 1989/90 with Jonas Shakafuswa who was a deadly striker with a lot of pace and stamina). Ba Sunday Nkonde also played with us as a defender. For you that have been around, you may remember that Buffaloes beat my Nkana 0-1 at Nkana Stadium leading to Nkana players refusing to sing the national anthem with 8 key players suspended courtesy of a Donald Chandalala scotcher.
The same week we (UNZA) arranged a friendly with this victorious Buffaloes and i remember Willie Chibwika coming to me playing at right back and saying “Mwaiche nalakupika as iyi nibola not amabuku” and i said “Ifwe tubomfya amano noti amanongo” . I actually marked out of the game and when being substituted i said “Wamona mudala nachikweba, wise tukusambilisheko namabuku”. You know bu lumpen from campus and that kind of stuff. We beat buffaloes on the day and we had the following in our line-up:
Late Cephas “Blackie” Sichalwe in goals, Patrick Kangwa (ZAFCA President), Sunday Nkonde, Davy Chansa (Director Audit with Stanbic in SA), Erasmus Masuwa (Magistrate in Lstone), Panta Lindasho (Education Director in Botswana, Robert Mutale (Commercial Farmer in Kasama), Joseph Kaoma (Barclays Lstone) Jonas Shakafuswa (Deputy Minister Science and Technology) etc. I,ve actually kept photos of my palying days
Sorry to bore you off, but i was driving a point that we shouldn’t doubt Ba Minister’s playing career. Ba Justice you may get him on +260211 229 348 but please for constructive critism and best way forward as the man is open to ideas like i found out. Even his juniors have taken to liking himas he’s down to earth.