..sports vet seeks to add impetus to development, results
Veteran sports administrator Machacha Shepande has filed in his nomination for the Football Association of Zambia presidency.
The farmer FAZ general secretary and National Sports Council of Zambia general secretary will seek to succeed Andrew Kamanga who has been at the helm for nine years.
Shepande, who runs FAZ Central Province Division One outfit has declared that with filing of nominations behind him, it is “now all systems go.”
“It went on well (filing of nominations). We filed in successfully, now it is hit the ground. It is all systems go,” said.
Since declaring his intention to run for the presidency of FAZ, the one-time National Sports Council of Zambia general secretary has been testing the ground by interacting with councilors.
“The ground is looking ok unless people are not telling the truth,” Shepande said.
He boasts of two years as NSCZ general secretary and two years at FAZ as head of the secretariat besides having been Deputy Director of Sports for a year before taking up the job at the Supreme Council for Sport in Africa as director of the All Africa Games from 2007 to 2010.
From 2010 to 2021, Shepande was Head of Sport at the African Union Commission – the highest position in sports at the African Union presiding over 55 ministries of sports throughout Africa.
As Head of Sport at the AU Commission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, he represented the AU at the Confederation of African Football and FIFA.
Shepande is proud to have participated in the Football for Schools (F4S) , an ambitious programme run by FIFA, in collaboration with UNESCO, which aims to contribute to the education, development and empowerment of around 700 million children.
F4S seeks to make football more accessible to both boys and girls around the world by incorporating football activities into the education system, in partnership with relevant authorities and stakeholders.
Part of the F4S includes the distribution of 1 million footballs every year for Africa, supported with a grant to support/integrate the football coaching into the curriculum.
“You cannot just send footballs without building capacity,” Shepande said
Meanwhile, another former FAZambia General Secretary Adrian Kashala also filed in his nomination for the position of FAZ presidency today.
Kashala believes that he is the right man for the position.
He has promised to run football with a united front where everyone will be allowed to run for elections.
Kashala says he will not focus on individuals but focus be on the development of football.
The 2025 FAZ presidential elections will take place on March 29 in Livingstone.
And a former sports journalist Alex Njobvu has also filed in his nomination for the FAZ presidency.
By Benedict Tembo
Great to see Kamanga being given a run for his money. May the best guy win!