Despite the increasing interest in Zambian players from clubs abroad after their impressive recent performances, which have helped the women’s national team qualify for all major international tournaments in the past two years, including the Paris Olympics, there exists a desire among them to be recruited into the Zambian military.
In April, three Copper Queens first-team players – Margaret Belemu, Ochumba Oseke and Mary Wilombe – graduated from Zambia air force training as noncommissioned officers. As a result they missed the Olympic Games qualifiers in February, having also missed the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) qualification round last November.
The trio are not the first to join the military; the midfielder Susan Banda serves in the Zambian air force, while the goalkeeper Hazel Nali, the midfielder Ireen Lungu, the striker Kabange Mupopo and the defenders Agness Musesa , Martha Tembo and Lushomo Mweemba are soldiers in the army..
The list also includes the captain of the team, Barbra Banda, who was promoted recently to the rank of staff sergeant having scored twice against Morocco to secure Zambia’s qualification for the Olympics.
Zambia are one of Africa’s most promising women’s teams. They were the continent’s only representative at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and finished third at the 2022 Wafcon. The Copper Queens also competed at last year’s World Cup, coming third in their group, behind Japan and the eventual winners, Spain. Since then they’ve risen to prominence, defeating Angola 6-0 twice in a row to qualify for this year’s Wafcon.
Yet, despite this success, the bulk of Zambia’s female internationals are poorly paid by their clubs. Some Zambian players in the country’s Women’s Super League, which began in 2021 and is run entirely by the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ), earn as little as $20 (£16) a month. Hence their desire to work for, and be paid by, one of the country’s three defence forces: the army, air force or national service.
The Copper Queens’ assistant coach, Florence Mwila, sees nothing wrong with footballers seeking employment in the military. “Football is a very short career; in case of a career-ending injury or other factors, at least they will have jobs that will enable them to sustain themselves and their families,” Mwila says. “The key thing is job security, and it has helped the players be committed to the national team knowing that they have a job.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a player from one of the local clubs in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, says: “What we get at my club can’t even buy me and my family three meals in a day. It’s too little; we just play for passion. Sometimes we go months without getting paid anything because even the club owners also don’t have money.
“My dream is to one day join the Green Buffaloes [a professional club based in Lusaka who compete in the Zambia Super League and were previously known as the Zambian Army Football Club] because there I will be assured of a job in the army.”
The Zambian army takes delight in seeing its soldiers dominate the national squad, with more talented young players interested in joining them. The deputy director of general sports, commerce, and community services, Colonel Priscilla Katoba, who is also the women’s representative on the FAZ executive committee, says the army has policies designed to support the growth of women’s football in the country.
“To the Zambia army, we stand proud to see our soldiers fighting for the nation in the Copper Queens squad,” she says. “We understand that football is a short career, so the army command thought it wise that they should provide employment for these girls in case of unforeseen circumstances that may prematurely end their careers.
“The army has always been key in developing national team players, not only for the women’s team but also for the men’s national team. The army produced Afcon-winning captain Christopher Katongo, and now we have the majority of the Copper Queens coming from our military team, so it has always been there to set the pace through the Green Buffaloes men’s and women’s clubs.” The Zambia army’s initiative has been expanded to include other sport, resulting in the formation of more than 22 teams in various fields.
Zambia’s place at the Olympics is in danger after Fifa threatened the country’s football association with suspension amid accusations of money-laundering offences against its president, Andrew Kamanga, which he denies. Should the country’s women be able to take part, it is expected that some of the soldiers on the team will be promoted in the army if they perform well, as part of the command’s strategy to motivate those in Paris.
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