Injunction’ judge disappointing:FAZ life member Kazabu questions decision of judge whose court order torpedoed FAZ AGM

By Benedict Tembo

The judge who granted a court order to stop last weekend’s FAZ AGM hurt the public interest, a veteran football administrator has charged.

Straight-talking Luxon Kazabu says there were no compelling reasons for the judge to grant the injunction that could imperil Zambian football, with sanctions from world football authority FIFA now a real possibility.
“I am…disappointed by the action of the Judge who granted the injunction when there were no compelling grounds contained in the affidavit by the plaintiff and as such, she should have declined the application, especially that it was heard ex-parte,” he says in a Press statement released yesterday.

He added; “Surely, the matter before the Judge was that of private interest vs public interest. Clearly, public interest has an upper hand. If I may ask, what irreparable damage could the plaintiff have suffered if the injunction was not granted?”

He warns there will be serious consequences for Zambian football if the on-going wrangling over the presidency isn’t resolved by means of a process recognised by world football authority FIFA.

He deplored what he described as “levels of hate not seen before in Zambian football”.
Kazaba who has previously served in various administrative roles in Zambia, including as general secretary at FAZ as well as at the National Sports Council of Zambia (NSCZ), said he could no longer remain silent about the what was going in the Zambian game.
He said following the events that took place at the aborted FAZ AGM last Saturday, which he attended in his position as life member of the association, he felt he could no longer hold his peace.

“Let me begin by stating that I did not want to speak on the happenings in football circles leading to the abortive Annual General Meeting (AGM) slated for 29th March, 2025 in Livingstone.
“However, having been present at the venue for the indaba and interacted with some delegates, I am compelled to speak because zipping my mouth would amount to me falling short of my civic duty,” he said.
He described as ‘mischievous’ and ‘selfish’ the actions of the parties that procured a High Court injuction to stop the meeting with delegates from all of Zambia and observers from FIFA having already gathered.
“As a concerned citizen, I am shocked by the conduct of some mischievous individuals who despite the guidance from FIFA decided to rock the boat by obtaining a court order at the eleventh hour and stopped the AGM from taking place for selfish interests to the amazement and disappointment of the delegates and the nation,” he said.
By granting the injunction public interest was injured. A new Executive Committee was not elected despite a lot of money being spent.

He described as ‘reckless’ the statements from the NSCZ in disregard of the guidance from the NSCZ that it would not recognise incumbent Andrew Kamanga as president of FAZ beyond 28th February, 2025 despite FIFA giving him the mandate to carry on until after the elections.

Another concerning statement from the NSCZ was its insistence that an interim committee should be put in place to manage the electoral process, also in breach of FIFA’s guidance that Kamanga’s team take charge of the entire process, with its international observers overseeing the vote .
According to FIFA, the comments from the NCSZ amount to third-party interference in the organisation and management of an affiliate and therefore falls foul of its guidelines.

“I have said it before and I will say it again, FIFA cannot be bulldozed by anyone, not even the President of the most powerful country, the United States of America. It is simple, if any country does not want to abide by the FIFA statutes, rules and regulations, such country can stay away from the world football body,” he said.
He said he found it hard to understand calls for Kamanga to drop his candidature for no compelling reasons, saying all his rivals had to do was face him in an election, an opportunity they had at the aborted AGM.
“One can only conclude that such statements were motivated by malice and immeasurable hatred for an individual which in my view is unfortunate. I wonder where the propensity for hatred has come from in our country. We should hate the wrong things that people do and not their persona,” he said.

He added: “In my many years of sports administration in particular football, both at club and national level, I never witnessed such hatred among football administrators. Yes, there were differences sometimes on various issues but such differences were resolved in a mature and amicable manner.”

He said he was sure that if Kamanga lost the vote, he would concede without fuss. “Use the ballot box and if you can convince the electorate to walk with you, I am sure Andrew and his team will bow out gracefully and move on.”
He appealed to the Ministry of Sport, NSCZ, FAZ and its affiliates, to always act in a manner that did not place Zambian football at a risk of dire consequences from world football governing body FIFA.

“What happened at the AGM on Saturday 29th March, 2025, must not be allowed to recur because it has serious consequences and, as I write, I don’t know what sanctions could be underway from FIFA whose guidance was defied with impunity and they were made to spend money for nothing.”

He said Zambians must learn to keep football away from politics.