Fresh from claiming their first ever podium finish at a CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations that took place in Morocco in 2022, and also qualifying for their maiden FIFA Women’s World Cup, which is scheduled for Australia and New Zealand, Zambia and Morocco have shown they are making strides in football in recent years.
To this effect, the two nations entered into a partnership that speaks to their football development agreement for a period of two years, which will see, among others, regular friendly games at all levels between the two countries.
“Part of the agreements in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) are based on promoting cooperation between the two federations on football development. The training of technical and administrative staff for the purpose of training and observation of events, programs and matches. The development of programs, events and training workshops, organization of friendly matches and promoting the development of youth football,” said a statement from FAZ.
Present at the signing ceremony was Fouzi Lekjaa, president of the Royal Football Federation of Morocco (FRM) and his Zambian counterpart, Andrew Kamanga.
The agreement will see Zambia send some of its coaches to undergo the coveted four-year CAF Pro License training in Rabat, and, also, the Southern African nation will be hosted for national team training camps.
“It is yet another milestone in our football development agenda with the MoU offering opportunities for knowledge transfer and support to grow youth and women football as well as technical support. In March, we are sending three coaches for the CAF Pro License course. Additionally, Morocco has a huge pool of qualified coaches who are available to support some of our Super League teams who may seek technical assistance. Under this agreement Zambia and Morocco will organize international friendly matches for senior men and women’s teams as part of preparing for international engagements,” said Kamanga.
This cooperation is the continuance of what happened before the WAFCON tournament in Morocco in July last year when the Copper Queens (Zambia Women’s National Team) had an international camp in Morocco, while their male counterparts were also hosted for the same reason for preparations for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The Copper Queens went on to claim bronze and also booked their spot at the 32-nation 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, while Chipolopolo failed to made it to the Middle East world football spectacle.
The Zambian Women’s National Team, who are the current COSAFA Women’s Championship holders, has been drawn in Group C alongside Spain, Japan and Costa Rica, while their Moroccan counterparts are with Germany, Colombia and the Korea Republic in Group H of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
By Matlhomola Morake
