The president of the Football Association of Zambia has welcomed the resignation of Treasurer Kelvin Mutafu.
Mutafu resigned Friday afternoon following a statement from Football House which expressed shock at his wild claims which cast aspersions about Football House operations.
Mutafu was due to be among FAZ Executives to attend an emergency meeting at which he was due to be asked to substantiate claims he made and published in one of the dailies.
Below is full FAZ statement before Mr Mutafu announced his resignation:
Press Statement
FAZ operations above board; to deal with Treasurer Kelvin Mutafu wild allegations firmly
Football House, 20 November 2015
Football House is deeply disappointed with the outrageous, wild and false claims that the Treasurer Kelvin Mutafu has made regarding matters of the Football Association of Zambia and its operations.
The unfounded statement and the levels of ignorance or wilful falsification of information exhibited by Mr Mutafu to suit his personal agenda is deeply shocking, worrying and extremely frightening.
It is particularly sad considering that it is from a very senior member of the Executive Committee who has been serving at that board level for about six (6) years now.
In view of his statement, an emergency Executive Committee meeting will be convened at which Mr Mutafu will be asked to substantiate his claims and provide the ExCo with proof. FAZ takes governance matters seriously and any statements casting aspersions on the integrity and standing of Football House and the game and raising allegations of corruption are taken very seriously and will be dealt with fairly and firmly.
This ExCo meeting will be convened over the next 72hours and its outcome communicated immediately.
The Football Association of Zambia would like to assert as follows:
Computerised ticketing is a matter FAZ has explored over the past years and months. After careful consideration of various options, Football House settled for Ticibox, which contrary to the false allegations peddled by Mr Mutafu, is running. The trials of computerised ticketing started with the semi-finals of the Barclays Cup, are in use for the final and will be gradually introduced for the Chipolopolo’s AFCON 2015 and FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 Qualifiers next year.
This careful and gradual introduction of e-ticketing is in order to have a smooth transition from the present system to the new one without causing so much disruption and confusion among fans and other stakeholders.
Further, we would like to add and stress that all match tickets are subjected to a thorough audit in compliance with our external auditing requirements before tickets are assigned to the designated selling points.
The technical sponsorship with Nike was not lost. FAZ was the first in Africa with Nike European operations and the record of that success is there for all to use. It is a sponsorship that we stand very proud of because it consigned to the past the trend of buying Zambia uniforms off the shelf in sub-standard material which did not even have national identity. Today, Chipolopolo and all other Zambian teams are proudly green and orange with distinct national colours and emblems which the country is proud of.
In contract renewal talks with Nike, FAZ demanded to have certain clauses and other adjustments like financial rewards be adjusted. Nike made an offer that we Football House felt fell far short of our expectations. We keep our options open and will only sign a new contract “on our terms which will be dictated by us”.
This could be with Nike again or other prospective sportswear firms that have made declarations of intent to take over sponsorship of our Chipolopolo and other national teams befitting an African champion team, a continental giant and a squad that is ambitious to become a global force. The wild allegations by Mr Mutafu are far off-mark, a blatant lie that seriously injures FAZ reputation and threatens the good standing that we have with our other sponsors and partners.
On the sponsorship of the FAZ Super League and resources getting down to lower division teams, this matter is no stranger to FAZ members.
The Treasurer was again out of line as the distribution of such resources is clearly defined by sponsorship clauses and other detailed management processes.
FAZ members are aware of the commercial undertakings for the Chipolopolo, Super League and how the structure of resource distribution will be done. This has been explained at various FAZ AGMs and is clearly not an issue. Sponsorship specific to a particular entity cannot be unilaterally disbursed.
It is therefore incumbent on Mr Mutafu to provide in detail his allegations of wrongdoing and corruption to the ExCo, public and any relevant organisation such information so that appropriate action may be taken. Failure to do so makes his position untenable.
