Zambian football has lagged behind in terms […]

Zambian football has lagged behind in terms of exporting talent across the continent and the top five leagues. Only a handful of players have made it to the best leagues, and somehow their performance is debatable.

 Fanatics and analysts have questioned the major reasons behind such a lag despite the country possessing enormous talent.

A FIFA agent and scout has revealed to the Zambian Business Times (ZBT) that in a bid to increase the export of African players to Europe and other major leagues, a group of agents worldwide has introduced a platform that enables player profiles and matches to be uploaded in real time.

Gift Soko revealed that in many years Zambia has struggled to export decent and excellent young talent abroad because most of the talent remains unscouted. He criticized the current selection model and scouting for major clubs and the national team, which restricts scouting mostly to under 20s.

 Sometimes the scouting is conducted during major tournaments like the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) and major club tournaments like the CAF Champions League. Revealing that much of the selection is based on who you are known to rather than talent, as a result some of the most talented players are left.

 However, the platform introduced is expected to give Zambia and other African countries a chance to have more players playing in top leagues. Obviously the biggest advantage is exposure, techniques, and technology, which will ultimately impact how African national teams perform at the world level.

“Now it will no longer be about connection but pure talent. Most of the time, even for a boy to make it, a lot of things happen: players are dropped due to lack of connections, and any player can be picked for trials in Europe or Asia, and it also allows them exposure to come back and support the national team.”

Soko highlighted that the only way to maximize the platform is by registering an academy or registering as an agent.

 “We had a meeting over the platform, and what needs to be done is to register either as an academy or as an agent and start uploading the profiles of their players.” It also allows the uploading of full games, allowing the scouts worldwide to have a bird’s-eye perspective of the player’s abilities.

Article by Samuel Mutale