The leadership of the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has presented a budget of $2 million to the country’s Ministry of Youth, Sports and Arts for their participation at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
FAZ President, Andrew Kamanga described the budget as an investment in the Chipolopolo as the country aim to lift the title in the Ivory Coast to claim the prize money of around $5 million.
Zambia are returning to the AFCON stage for the first time since 2015 and they are hoping to conquer the continent for the second time in the tournament’s history.
In a media parley on Thursday, Kamanga said: “For some reason, you [media] have always failed to put these matters in context. And I say so because, all these tournaments where we have gone and participated, there is always what they call prize money.
“So even in this case, if we are going to win the Africa Cup, we are guaranteed $4.5 million because that’s the prize money for winning the cup. But as you expect, the budget that has been presented is inclusive of getting into the end of the tournament, so the cost or our investment to get the team to the final is about $2 million and what we are going to get out of it is $4.5million.
“So you don’t have to be a scientist to know that getting to the final and winning the cup will give us more than a 100 percent return. So, we should always put these things in context.”
Zambia find themselves in Group F of the tournament against the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Morocco.
Meanwhile, former Chelsea coach Avram Grant has started preparations with 30 players in Lusaka and he is expected to name his final squad on/before January 1 ahead of their departure to Saudi Arabia for their final training camp.
The Chipolopolo are scheduled to face AFCON-bound Cameroon in a friendly game on January 9 in Jeddah, and another friendly with a yet-to-be-confirmed opponent on January 5.
