IS THE GOVERNMENT WASTING MONEY ON ZAMBIAN FOOTBALL?

The chipolopolo boys.


This is a lingering question in  Zambia, which sounds utterly preposterous to some football fans. The question has caused a never ending debate which resurfaces from time to time. So is the government wasting money on zambian Football? Of course not! 

A screenshot of zambian government's statement.


In May, the Ministry of Youths and Sports gave a statement that it was going to give the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) K14,000,000 in preparation for the Africa Cup qualifiers, which as expected revived the long, old and unresolved debate. Tilka Paljk, a Zambian swimmer, sparked controversy on social media when she posted 

"Zambian baseball team won a tournament against Burkina Faso. Didn't see that in the news, instead we saw that the ministry is giving FAZ K14m to pay for the debts and get chipolopolo ready for AFCON qualifiers which they will probably lose.
"I'm tired of other sports being given false hope that the government will be there for them and fund them while the likes of Sydney Siame and I have to fund our own continental trips, win medals and the most publicity we get is a column at the back of the sports section.
All we want is to be given the recognition we deserve. We just want equality, we want all sports to be treated equally regardless of how big or small, popular or unpopular the sport is."

Although Tilka's advocacy of other sports is good, she might have came off a bit rude. 

While it's true that other sports have been neglected, it's however unfair to blame it on football funding and we should all support other sports but not at the expense of football. The blame should be put on the ministry of Youths and Sports and not on footballers and their fans. It would be much better to advocate for Equity rather than Equality because there are more people involved in football than any other sport in Zambia. It should also be stated that FIFA funds football through the government. Furthermore, a lot of money is generated from football through advertisements, broadcasting rights and ticket sales. The goal is to promote other sports and not to advocate against football.

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