MUKWIMA CHILALA writes
THE Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has come to the defence of its Ethics Committee which has come under severe criticism by football councillors and the public at large. FAZ general secretary Adrian Kashala said that contrary to misconceptions from members of the public, the committee was only meant to punish and remedy those that were found in conflict with the laws governing football. Kashala said that the ethics committee was never constituted to punish perceived enemies of the association but was an institution that provided checks and balances on how affiliates of FAZ conducted themselves. He said the association was made up two other judicial bodies apart from the Ethics Committee to include the appeals and the disciplinary committees. “I know it has been misconceived by members of the public that the ethics committee is meant to bar those that want to contest elections or indeed those that are in conflict with the association, “ I don’t think that is true a situation, what is obtaining is that only those that are found on the other side of football rules will brought before such a committee,’’ he said. He was aware that the disciplinary committee only dealt with issues that happened on the field when games were played. Kashala further said that the transitional league season had progressed very well, adding that the association was happy with the support that it had received so far. Copperbelt-based soccer administrators, Gabriel Kaunda and Blackwell Siwale were recently quoted by the Sun sports of having accused FAZ of using the ethics committee to silence and intimidate those with divergent views.
That was after Kaunda was summoned to appear before the FAZ judicial body while Siwale is still serving an expulsion from the association for alleged misconduct,