The infamous FIFA letter and FAZ Elections

FIFA COMMUNICATION

When you read some articles in the daily newspapers and indeed on social media, you will think that FIFA and FAZ communication is not supposed to happen between the two and only the two. There are insinuations that FAZ is “hiding the letter”. The truth is that FIFA doesn’t address anyone else outside the FA of a nation unless it is a letter to litigants appearing before FIFA in the Dispute Resolution Chamber of the Players Status Committee or indeed the Disciplinary Committee or Appeals Committee. You can also be addressed to if you are being disciplined as an individual like in the case of Kalusha and the FIFA Independent Ethics Committee. Even in this case, FAZ is always copied in. Otherwise all correspondence is addressed to FAZ and FAZ only. There is no way the Ministry of Sports can be addressed or lawyers of aggrieved parties.

Now bear in mind that FIFA and FAZ communicate many times within a week on various issues such as club licensing, disputes, league matters, finances and sponsorship etc. Any General Secretary of FAZ worth his salt will not distribute all these letters to the general public as he will be breaking the norms and ethics of his job. He owes the association a duty of care and due diligence to keep its affairs safe-guarded. However, from time to time, like now he may make the letter public so people can make their own judgement and this is purely done on public good not out of duty. When we citizens ask for these letters nicely we can get them. This is where we citizens should be lobbying government to have the Freedom of Information Bill enacted so such letters can be easily accessed. I am pleased to announce that I asked for them and was given and I hereby publish them exclusively.

THE FIFA LETTER

You recall that the e-meeting took place on 4th November 2020 and it was attended by the ministry of sports, the National Sports Council of Zambia, the FAZ president and FAZ General Secretary plus one aggrieved party with his lawyer. Following that meeting, FIFA decided that, having listened to all the arguments put forward, “On this occasion, we heard the different positions put forward by each participant and we are of the view that FAZ shall resume the remaining steps of the electoral process – which was put on hold last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic – as soon as possible.

Note the use of the word “Shall”. Also note that FIFA doesn’t recognise the court process but only the COVID restrictions.

FAZ responded to FIFA and, last week, FIFA then gave the directive for elections to go ahead saying it would “watch the process closely” and send an “observer”.

The letter does not show FIFA finding any merit in the arguments of Kalusha Bwalya, Damiano Mutale and Mumbo Lombe who took FAZ to the Court of Arbitration of Sports, the High Court of Zambia and the National Sports Council of Zambia respectively. Bear in mind that all three did not manage to get redress from their cases and were hoping FIFA would reverse the FAZ decisions and processes. Instead FIFA feels that FAZ was correct in barring Kalusha Bwalya and elections should process as they were originally set in March 2020.

WAY FORWARD

My intelligence sources tell me that The Ministry of Sports is trying to stop FAZ elections for whatever reason. Unconfirmed reports state that the National Sports Council of Zambia General Secretary Mr Raphael Mulenga has been dispatched to Livingstone to stop the Southern Province elections while the Director of Sports Mr John Zulu has gone to Kabwe to stop the Central Province elections.

Its unfortunate that the ministry which promised everyone that it would respect the decision by FIFA and wanted everyone to respect the FIFA Decision is the one in the forefront of disrespecting the FIFA-sanctioned FAZ Electoral process.

CONSTITUTIONALLY OF THE ELECTIONS

Lastly let me address the issue of whether or not the elections called by FAZ are constitutional.

Mumbo Lombe has been widely quoted as asking whether this AGM is for 2021 or 2020. Those saying the 2020 AGM was not held and this is the 2021 one are incorrect. The AGM to be held on my birthday on 27th February 2021 is the March 2020 elective AGM. It was simply and only postponed. You will recall that notices where already made 21 days before the AGM pursuant to Article 27 of the FAZ constitution of 2017 as amended in 2019. All legal requirements were met. Notice how FAZ GS Kashala puts it in a communique shared with the FAZ membership: “Notice is hereby given following the guidance from FIFA culminating from the Electoral Process meeting held with different parties last year, the Association has been guided to proceed with the remaining four provincial elections which shall be held with effect from 16th February 2021 leading up to the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 27th February 2021. The agenda remains as earlier circulated before the Electoral Process was halted.”

Even the postponement was legal. At the time of the postponement, I wrote: “Otherwise we remain in the same scenario. Kamanga remains president. FIFA approves the mandate he is given by the FAZ statutes in the Transitory Provisions in Article 5 of the FAZ Constitution of 2017 as amended in 2019. Elections can’t go ahead with COVID-19. Life goes on.”

The 2021 AGM will be held under the newly elected executive committee. We are still under the Kamanga-led ExComm as elected in 2016. The financial reports, sporting reports etc. shall be the ones that were to be presented in March 2020.

As for candidates and ballots, I am not aware of provisions for replacing our colleagues who left us such as Mr Joseph Nkole as presidential candidate and Rix Mweemba as Veep aspirant. But my understanding is that the elections in the provinces and indeed at the AGM will have ballots bearing the names of those whose nominations were validated by the FAZ Electoral Commission and the Appeals Committee. So the long and short of it is that only Emmanuel Munaile and Andrew Kamanga are running for president. And that Mr Kalusha Bwalya won’t be on the ballot as his eligibility was not confirmed by FAZ, the Court of Arbitration for Sports and now FIFA.