MUKWIMA CHILALA writes
AS Clifford Mulenga’s detailing of events of his expulsion from the National Soccer Team continue to receive mixed reactions, the former Chipolopolo star has challenged former team manager Lusekelo Kamwambi to provide evidence of the security officers that prevented players from sneaking out and bringing women in camp.
Kamwambi was yesterday quoted in the Daily Nation Newspaper as having refuted Mulenga’s allegations that women were sneaked into the team camp during the 2012 Africa Cup of nations in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
But Mulenga insists that women were indeed sneaked into the team and that there was no security mandated to stop players from doing so.
Mulenga alleges that on the night of their particular outing that led to his expulsion from the team, Kamwambi and named journalist actually joined them at the night spot where they were drinking from.
He said that it was Kamwambi that asked that he leave the club as Renardwould be furious if he found out about their outing.
Mulenga said that it was after Kamwambi asked them to leave that the left that club and three of his team mates picked women to go with to the hotel.
He said that had two of his team mates not over slept, Renard would jot have found out of their expedition the previous night.
“If Kamwambi says there is serious security to man the players, how come we managed to sneak out of camp and our friends managed to sneak in women. I think he is not being honest, you ask him to provided evidence of those security men or their names if at all there are any,” Mulenga said.
“He is the person (Kamwambi) that found us in the night club and told us that we needed to leave because Renard was not going to be happy if he found out of our outing,” he said.
And Mulenga insisted that he was used as a scapegoat when he was expelled from the camp.
He said that had two of his team mates not been caught red handed after they woke up late and confessed to Renard, the coach would not have found out that they had gone out.
“I don’t dispute that we had a lot of run-ins with Renard previously and he warned me of my behavior but what I don’t agree with him is that I was a bad influence on the team. And the story that I never apologized is not true because there was any kind of meeting called where I was asked to apologize,” he said.
I played in the National Team for a long time and I can tell you that there’s never security as Kamwambi is putting it because I joined the team longer than he did and the only guys that were being the providing guidance are the senior players such as Joseph Musonda, Chintu Kampamba and Isaac Chansa.
In a recent interview with on a You Tube video show dubbed “Studio Ken”, Mulenga opened a Pandora’s box after he laid bare details of his expulsion from the National Team in 2012 which has since been receiving mixed reactions from the soccer fraternity.
