For three years, the Zambians were charmed by a handsome Frenchmen called Herve Renard, who was captain of the ship at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations – leading Chipolopolo to the quarterfinals of the biggest football showcase on the continent for the first time in 14 years.
Chipolopolo were in town on August 10 and on a day now known as Super Wednesday as the Zimbabwe Warriors turned on the power slotting two goals past their bitter rivals. An Italian hunk, Dario Bonetti, who can pass for a Hollywood movie star, took over from Renard in April 2010 and led the Zambians. Renard is now part of Palancas Negras of Angola.
The locals love to be soaked in glory and the win over Chipolopolo was the right tonic ahead of the Warriors’ Nations Cup match against Liberia on September 4 at Rufaro. Without taking away anything from the Warriors’ five-star performance orchestrated by two magicians, Willard Katsande and Khama Billiart, we forgot to tell the nation that Chipolopolo are no longer the same copper bullets.
We forgot to tell the nation about Chipolopolo’s fallen heroes; Godfrey Chibanga, Chileshe Chibwe, Francis Kombe, Stephen Kunda, Christopher Musonda, Chanda Mwaba and Nchimunya Mweetwa could still have been part of Chipolopolo.
The rotten apples that turned out for Finnish club Rovaniemi Palloseura (RoPs) are finished (no pun intended), as they were found guilty of match-fixing, in an embarrsing act that dented the country’s reputation.
The players were handed suspended sentences, ranging from six months to 20 months, in July, for the match-fixing scandal in Finland which was masterminded by Wilson Raj Perumal – the same man at the centre of the fixed games by the Zimbabwe Warriors in the past five years.
The seven players accepted bribes of between US$7 000 to US$15 000, each to affect the outcome of the matches.
When Chipolopolo were in town, we also forgot to tell the nation about the Yobe brothers, Donwell and Dominic, who could also have been part of Zambia. On May 6, the Zambian brothers playing for AC Oulu in Finland were convicted of taking 50 000 euros (about US$72 000) in bribes to play “below their normal level” in a 5-0 loss last year.
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We forgot to remind the Warriors that these two brothers are back in Zambia because of their unsporting conduct in return for the greenback. We forgot to tell the nation that if it was not for match-fixing, a player like Collins Mbesuma could never have been part of Chipolopolo, but he was there at Rufaro on Wednesday failing to carry his weight and shooting blanks.
The Football Association of Zambia has not made an official statement on the fate of the players, but a crystal clear signal was sent at Rufaro, when the players did not feature for Chipolopolo.
Zimbabwe is grappling with its own Asiagate, but the Zambia experience is a lesson on what match-fixing can do to a national team. Match-fixing is a virus which can wipe out an entire team.
We wait with bated breath on the action to be taken by the football authorities and hope that the Warriors will not go down like our once famed neighbours, Chipolopolo.
Once oozing with talent that was wasted due to match-fixing, Chipolopolo have to start rebuilding again like they did in 1993 when they lost 18 players in an air crash in Gabon.
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