THE HIDDEN WORLD OF ZAMBIAN LOCAL FOOTBALL In 2008 a number of Zambias Dailys splashed Pictures on their Sports Pages of a Senior player at Legendary club City Of Lusaka who had turned one of the Woodlands Stadium changerooms into his home after he was thrown out of his home due to non payment of rent. This was a farcry from the City of Lusaka of the 60s to 80s who even managed to sign one of the Worlds most expensive players Jackie Sewell from his England base. It wasnt just City of Lusaka who had fallen from grace. The turn of the new century saw the huge mine teams of Nkana, Mufulira Wanderers and many more fall. With most mines teams surviving on Monthly grants of less than $10,000 a month Nkana got demoted for the first time in 2004, Mufulira Wanderers followed suit in 2005 while Konkola Blades also got demoted for the first time and Nchanga Rangers suffered the same fate in 2008. 2000 - 2009 was a toughtime for the cornerstone of Zambian Clubs who were all owned by the mines. On the Copperbelt only Power Dynamos stayed unaffected due to their sponsors ( Copperbelt Energy Corporation) also supplying mines in the DRC with electricity. With Low Salaries and poor conditions of K200 ($30) prevalent in the Zambian League players began to leave for any country from SouthAfrica to Botswana and Rwanda. Forward to 2014 and there has been a remarkable turn around over the last 5 years. There are now Zambian Local players who earn K9,000 ( K1,500) and reports by several media revealed this year that some clubs can offer K18,000 ( $3,000) a month for a player. Add on Match bonuses and several local players can earn as much as K8,000 minus Salary ( $1,300). A visit to Napsa Stars training ground and once training ends the majority of players head for the CarPark were cars from Mercedes Benzes, BMWs to Toyota Corrollas litter the Carpark. 10 Years ago Napsa Stars predecessor Profound Warriors was struggling to fullfill fixtures let alone be able to pay players well. Veteran Zambian Administrator Ponga Liwewe had this to say Todays top teams can pay up to $1000 -$1500 equivalent and coupled with bonuses this is definitely better than the past. Players are able to buy cars, some have built or are building houses, have invested in business from their football income. A former player who played in the 90s also said When we played football in the mid 90s the only player who owned a Car in the league was Mohammed Seedat (former City of Lusaka Star midfielder and Zambian of Asian origin) and it was unheard of for a local player to build a house, but these days even those who sit on the bench at an average League club can drive and a lot even own small businesses. Current Zambia Super League Striker Lineker Mwikisa on loan to Green Eagles also gave an identical view It has drastically improved, because in the past only players who played abroad could afford to buy a car. But now in this era local players are able to build and drive. Many local Clubs conditions have improved, and its not only restricted to the Top League, there are Division 1 Clubs who match many Super League clubs in terms of conditions. Players at several Clubs now also have access to Loans of upto K100,000 ( $20,000) which a number have used to build there own houses and businesses. One current player who sought anonymity said Many people dont know this, but Ive built two lodges in other parts of Zambia and Im also in the process of building apartment blocks, and Ive never played outside Zambia. These stories are a farcry of how most Zambians view local players, at a game this season between Power Dynamos and Napsa Stars there was a strong belief by a group of fans that local players play for free and basically earn nothing, this is a view shared by a lot of Zambians. Its hard to understand why the world of the local player has stayed hidden, some blame a lack of proper press coverage on the local game. While a lot of players conditions have improved there are still quite a number who earn as little as K500 ( $90) a month. Ponga Liwewe stated that a professional League can finally drive players earning Salaries of between K30,000 ( $5,000) - K60,000 ( $10,000). Some argue that this is not possible but a little known story is that the rise of TP Mazembe was facilitated through sponsorship by a Zambian Company named Chani Fisheries owned by then Kitwe based Congolese businessman Moise Katumbi. Under the Chani Fisheries brand players like Tresor Mputu started earning $6,000 ( K30,000) and more which was unprecedented in Congolese football history. The rise of the worlds most popular league the English Premier League also happened when the league became professional on the early 90s. Players who earned $1,000 a month began earning $10,000 a month within 5 years. This is what the Zambian football industry should also aim for. While the local football scene is hidden from most Zambians it easy to be seen the things are finally becoming clearer.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 11:43:21 +0000
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