Mundubile talks sports, envisions best soccer facilities

By SPORTS REPORTER

ZAMBIA should endeavour to build a world-class soccer team that should be able to participate in the globe’s most prestigious sports tournament by ensuring that the country has the best facilities and best management of football, Brian Mundubile has said

“Fellow Zambians, this morning I stepped aside and decided to reflect on ‘ama youth, imisepela’, as many of you, or us, watch the world’s greatest sport, soccer, even as we continue on the election campaign trail with my running mate Makebi Zulu, few weeks before the polls,” Mundubile said.

Mundubile said while the world’s greatest sporting spectacle was unfolding across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, it was disheartening that Zambia was watching from the terraces.

He said the 2026 FIFA World Cup had become a stage where Africa was no longer a participant but a contender, with nine African nations, including Morocco, Senegal, Ghana, Egypt, South Africa, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde, and the Democratic Republic of Congo - having gone as far as the knockout stages.

Mundubile said the achievements of the African countries at the World Cup was a record-breaking achievement that proves the continent’s resilience and rising power in football yet Zambia, the land of the Copper Bullets, was watching from the side-lines.

“This moment is both nostalgic and urgent. In February 2012, under the leadership of the Great Kalusha Bwalya, Zambia conquered Africa, lifting the CAF Africa Cup of Nations trophy.

That victory was more than a medal; it was a unifying heartbeat for our nation, a reminder that football is not just a sport but a force that binds us together, it was a symbol of strength and unity,” Mundubile said.

He said Zambians needed to know about the Great Kalusha’s glowing CV, who was African Footballer of the Year in 1988, not a month, a PSV Eindhoven star, and Zambia’s greatest football ambassador.

Mundubile said if Zambia could conquer Africa in 2012, the country could conquer the world.

“But why has Zambia not risen to the World Cup stage? If Cape Verde, a small island nation, can reach the knock-outs, then surely Zambia can.

He explained that the future of Zambian football was in grass-roots academies, (imisepela) in nurturing talent from the dusty pitches of Kitwe, Mongu, Mazabuka, Chipata and Mporokoso to the green fields of Lusaka.

“We can create jobs through soccer and other sports in Zambia. Football is youthful, and youth is the heartbeat of Zambia. My manifesto is clear: “Imisepela - think future. A great future starts with a foundation, not with money but with sweat, discipline, and hope,” he said.

Ends.