Without Kicking The Ball, Zambia Under-20 Qualify To Next Round

The Zambia under-20 has been granted easy passage to the second round of the Africa Youth Championship qualifiers following the withdrawal of first round opponents Lesotho.

FAZ communications officer Erick Mwanza confirmed the development at a press briefing and said the planned camp for the junior Chipolopolo had since been cancelled.

“We received correspondence from Lesotho that they have pulled out of the qualifiers against Zambia, this means that our team has automatically qualified to the next round,” he said.

“As much as this may be good news, it also bad for our team because we wanted to keep them active.”The under-20 team was scheduled to go into camp today to prepare for the match against Lesotho on the weekend of July 28 and 29.

Meanwhile Mwanza said the FAZ disciplinary committee has reversed two results in division one South involving a week 8 match between Zesco Shockers and City of Lusaka and the week 6 match between Young Stars and Kalomo Jetters.

Mwanza said the FAZ disciplinary committee awarded three points to City of Lusaka after the match ended in a 1-all draw but Shockers had used an ineligible player Hosea Silwimba who was suspended for the match.

The player has been handed a six-match ban. Jetters were awarded three points in a match they lost 1-nil to Stars but it was reported that the hosts had overpaid the referee and his assistants which was against the rules of the game.

Mwanza said the unnamed referee received K185 thousand instead of K120 thousand officiating while his two assistants got K175 thousand each instead of K115 thousand. He said the referees would also be punished.