Zambian forward Fashion Sakala says FAZ President Andrew Kamanga is not an honest man citing betrayal concerning his absence from the National Team. 
In a near hour-long Facebook Live session on Tuesday — viewed by over 7,000 people — Sakala accused Kamanga of dishonesty, alleging that the FAZ president privately assured him of a return to the national side.
Sakala alleged that his response to Grant was a planned move between him and the FAZ President, Andrew Kamanga. 
Sakala revealed that their plan kicked into motion after Chipolopolo boss Avram Grant sent him an audio where he accused him of being lazy and not playing with passion. 
The former Rangers forward was not amused with the former Chelsea gaffer’s choice of words.
Sakala said he was promised that he would be brought back to the national team and Avram Grant would be fired by Kamanga.
He challenged the FAZ supremo to respond if at all he was lying. 
“The audios that Grant sent to me were very disrespectful. I believe that there is a way you can address a player as a coach, you can’t downgrade a player’s ethic like that. He could have used better ways to talk to me which I believe that maybe his point that he wanted to raise could have been better understood but then the words he was using was very disrespectful and looking at how hard I work I felt like someone can’t tell me that I don’t work hard, I don’t work with passion things like that , I don’t agree with them looking at where I came from to reach a level of playing at the National Team it shows that I have tried my best,” Sakala said. 
“Mr Kamanga started telling me no how I should respond to Grant. Why should Grant send you such kind of voice notes, does he know how far you have come with the national team, does he know where you come from. You have been playing for the national team for years and he is talking to you like that. You have to insult him, you have to send bad messages to him because he is very stupid, I Am the boss, I will take him out of the national team, he can’t talk to you like that. You are a senior player.”
“Mr Kamanga, If I am lying he can respond. You know why I did this? Mr Kamanga has been doing a lot of interviews. I have not said anything. He keeps going on with the interviews. Today he did another interview and this morning I sent him messages. I know that for sure he won’t respond to me,” he added.  
Sakala says he sent Kamanga a message following his interview on Hot FM where he addressed the Sakala issue. 
“I sent him a message to my boss, have you forgotten what you and I planned? How should I respond to Grant , have you forgotten that you are now going round doing all these interviews. He is making it look like I accused my teammates, I did not accuse my teammates,” he said.
“I have all the messages that I spoke to Mr Kamanga. I responded to Grant and I blocked him, because for me it was done on my side, I responded in a way and sent that message that I sent to Grant, everything well arranged between me and Mr Kamanga, I have all the proof, if all these laws that have changed in Zambia you want to use that against me, I have all the proof.”
The Al Fayha forward believes he was betrayed by the FAZ boss as he was not brought back after the four nations tournament hosted by Malawi in March 2024. 
“Me and Mr Kamanga were having all these conversations. He told me that this camp in Malawi, don’t worry about it, but the next camp I will bring you back to the national team, because this thing happened in a short time,” he said. 
“You know what happened, Mr Kamanga failed to what he promised and you know what he did he went and had an interview and he started about me like ‘ Iam not the one selecting players’, but to me he is the one selecting players, that is what he told me, messages, calls.”
“Mr Kamanga is a betrayer, he betrayed, after all these things we talked about in secret and now he is going round having interviews saying the coach has the power of selecting players, he should have said to me that he will bring me back and the this coach is not even staying with the national team, I will take him out,” he added. 
Sakala added;A lot of people are waiting to apologize, it is very easy for me to apologize and get back to the National Team. People were calling me to apologize for the sake of my career.”
“People got it wrong that I accused my teammates for scoring tap ins but that was not the point was why is it that me being a Zambian you do share what am doing in Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦, it started not only here in Saudi Arabia but way back when I was in Belgium then went to Scotland and until here Saudi Arabia you don’t share about what i’m doing but you do it for other players the why not me. Even when other players score tap-ins , then you share but for me you don’t share. People got it wrong, but I have a very good relationship with the players who play for the National Team. It was a message to Sydney (Mungala). I really wanted him to take that into consideration. To be fair it’s not something I need but if they do it for other players they should do it for me, they should do it for everyone.”
“What I wanted people to know is that Mr Kamanga is not an honest man. If he is an honest man, he should come to me. Being a leader I wanted to get instructions from him on how I should respond and how we can go forward. But all of a sudden he changed and became a different person, started sending people to me, coaches in Zambia were calling me to apologize,” he added. 
Sakala then went on to talk about a meeting with coach Avram Grant asking him to join his agent’s agency. 
Sakala went on to say that Toaster Nsabata was also experiencing the same pressure during the Africa Cup of Nations. 
“The story that I mentioned in the leaked video about the coach having a meeting with me about his joining his agent, trying to tell me that his agent does not need much money. Where I represent a Community, those kids can’t pay to play for the National Team, I have never paid to play for the national team. I have never paid anyone to play for the national team. I have had people who helped me, Mr Kafwa Nyirenda got me from the Village, Mr Siwale and Mr Chongo in Chingola they got me from Chipata and Mr Numba and Mr Mulenga they signed me me at ZANACO, but I never paid a coin. I represent a Community, they can’t manage to pay to play for the National Team,” he said. 
“Toaster Nsabata was my roommate at the Africa Cup. He was showing me that look at those, this agent is telling me that , you have to sign with me, if you don’t sign with me, you won’t play for the National Team. I said don’t sign with him, because that’s not the right way to build our national team.”
“My biggest dream is to see Zambian football grow, to see the National Team qualify to the World Cup, even in my casket I would be happy to see that but not the agent of the coach putting pressure on players to sign with him, no you have to be my player, you have to sign with me to play for the National Team but no we are Zambians, even if this coach goes we will remain Zambians. I don’t need to sign with you, I don’t need that. You could see that Nsabata was not even on the bench for the Africa Cup, he was my roommate, he was going through that with the coach and the agent,” he added. 
“You guys being Zambians, do you know a player who was threatened in Israel? The agent said,” I am sending thugs there if you don’t pay my money. You don’t know how many people, how many parents sent messages to me, immediately after that audio leaked about what I said.”
“You don’t know the player who got stuck in Dubai because of the same agent, they started contacting me so that I could fly them back to Zambia. The problem that I have about all these things that happened, when I came out to address these things, through the audio that leaked, people didn’t expect me to talk like that as a player and I have never done that, but I felt I had no option,” Sakala went on. 
Sakala accused FAZ of using a picture he took with FAZ General Secretary, Reuben Kamanga for social media clout instead of dealing with the issue. 
“Remember when they called me to FAZ, and they took a picture of me when I was with the GS, Reuben Kamanga and posted on Facebook making it look like we were sorting the issue, they just wanted to use the picture to post and make it look like we were progressing but there was no progression there. When I sat down with him I explained about all these players that were threatened by the agent and all that,” he said. 
“Whatever contribution we are making playing for the national team is not for us, it’s for the future generations. All those players who won the AFCON, they did it for us, so one thing that we have to understand is that I love playing for the National Team but when I am not playing for the National Team, when Zambia is struggling a bit some people think am happy, I Am not happy, I’m only happy when Zambia wins. For me what’s important is Zambia being part of the Africa Cup and not Fashion Sakala , for me that’s more important,” he added. 
Sakala has refused to apologize saying he is not the one in the wrong and whatever happened was planned by him and the FA chief. 
“Waiting for an apology, the reason why it’s been so difficult for that apology to come it’s because me and Mr Kamanga agreed what to do, so Mr Kamanga is not going to betray me and leave me alone. I start writing apologies to whoever, no I am not going to do that. You guys  have no idea what I went through at that time,” he said. 
“I can’t apologize because that thing was well planned, can’t be me alone to apologize. If my interest was me  being part of the national team, I could have just apologized. That’s the easiest way but for me it’s not about me being part of the national team but the betterness of Zambian football even if I am not there. At some point we are all going to leave but what counts is what we contribute to our country that’s it. They were players who played there for years so who am I to think I will play for the National Team forever. Leaving me out of the squad is not a punishment, I am not the first player to be dropped. So all these things that have been happening, for me they were supposed to be sorted out in the beginning even before they went on social media.” 
“Even Grant had an interview and instead of addressing the issue he started talking about how he coached Lampard, he coached Dtogba, trying to manipulate people’s minds, I have coached all these guys so who is Fashion Sakala? Yes I am not on that level comparing myself to those guys but the issue that was supposed to be addressed was simple for me. I feel it’s important for people to know exactly what happened. I did this because Mr Kamanga had an interview today, Mwebantu posted,” he added.  
During the live some claimed an invisible Football politics hand was involved but he refuted that claims saying he only responded because Kamanga had an interview on Hot FM earlier in the day. 
“Doing it at this time is something I never thought of , and if Mr Kamanga did not do an interview I would have not done it, am not campaigning for anyone, I will support whosoever will win. I just want you to know that Me Kamanga needs to be an honest man so if you don’t see me playing for the National Team it is because I refused to apologize for something that was well planned. For those waiting for me to apologize, I’m not going to do it, I love Zambia. I am going to do everything it takes to support Zambia, but I am not going to apologize for playing for the Zambian national team because as far as I know I am not wrong,” he said.
Earlier in the live steam, Sakala went on to reveal how he received screenshots allegedly of the FAZ Facebook page public castigation of him after an U23 National Team match in Malawi. 
Sakala was also quick to mention how much he loved playing for the National Team.
“This is the time for me to deliver the message because Mr. Kamanga is a betrayer. He is a betrayer. He betrayed me. You know, after all these things that me and him spoke about in secret, he’s going live, having interviews and starting telling people,” he said. 
“I want to let you know how much I love playing for the National Team and for you people to understand that it’s just a dream for every kid out there to play for the National Team and it was my biggest so not being part of it does not make me happy because I believe I can still contribute more. “
“So this is the issue I wanted to address, I want you to get it from me, and I want you to understand that not being part of the national team is not my wish, unlike other people who are portraying it. Maybe there are indiscipline issues, I don’t respect the so called superiors. 
When I was playing in Belgium, I really want to tell you to understand that Mr Kamanga is not an honest person. He is doing interviews but Mr Kamanga is not an honest person “
“So when I was in Belgium, we had a game in Malawi for the U23, we played and won 1-0 both games and I scored both goals. 
“After the game I started receiving screenshots of how the FAZ page was attacking me about being selfish and all that. It’s a page that holds so much value but seeing them attacking me publicly, I sent those screenshots to Mr Kamanga and we spoke for some minutes, he assured me that he will deal with it I should not worry. I also explained to him that I did not understand the FAZ page, other players you publish them. I don’t need them to publish my work in Belgium but if they do it for other players then they should do it for me. So if they are posting other players what they are doing for their successes but why not me. He assured me that he would deal with it but they continued doing that,” he added. 
Sakala was also allegedly bad mouthed by people at Football House to coaches before they could start their work with the Chipolopolo Boys citing incidents with Sven, Milutin Sredojevic and Aliosa Asanovic. 
“Three coaches from the National Team, Sven, Micho and Asanovic. Micho had to take me in the car to tell me about this whole thing. He was like Fashion, I have something to share with you, why is it that when I joined the National Team they were telling me things about you but you are totally a different person. So I don’t understand why these people (People from FAZ ) are telling these coaches,” he said. 
“Few months later we had a new coach Asanovic, he called at Radisson Blu telling me about how bad Iam, I don’t respect my teammates, and which I believe I have never had issues with my teammates be at club level or National Team because I know that my teammates have contributed so much to my career. When I watched the interview of Kalaba it was like confirmation to me that this is what is happening, it’s not only me.”
WHAT KAMANGA SAID 
Andrew Kamanga was on the hot seat on Hot FM in the morning and was asked about the Fashion Sakala situation. 
Below is what he said that prompted a response from Fashion Sakala. 
“The decision of the executive was to open an inquiry, because the information came out in the public domain. Unfortunately, those who were expected to participate in the inquiry did not, including Fashion himself,” he said. 
“Initially, we were convinced the matter was between the coach and the player. Unfortunately, I will share with you what I have seen, between the coach and the player, there was almost an agreement in terms of resolving the issue.”
“But then it turned out that the issues which had been raised [during the talks] didn’t touch on the fellow players. So, the fellow players also have a position where they expect that their colleague [Sakala] is going to go back to them and make peace with them.
“So, this is the dynamic that…Because, for instance, comments were made that some of the players were given attention, and those who just scored tap ins…that didn’t sit well with the rest of the team,” he added. 
BACKGROUND 
Fashion Sakala Sakala has been out of the National Team since 2023 AFCON played in Morocco in January 2024. 
Sakala was snubbed a number of times following a lacklustre performance at the 2023 AFCON before an audio leaked of a conversation he had with FAZ Communications Manager, Sydney Mungala where he accused Grant of a number of things including asking him to join his agent’s agency and unfair treatment. 
Avram Grant replied to the allegations made by Sakala saying the Saudi Arabia based forward was lying. 
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