Jones Chilengi remembered
Written by Millennium on July 26, 2019
MUKWIMA CHILALA writes
A SOCCER tournament to honour former Zambia national soccer team captain Jones Chilengi (late) was yesterday launched with six teams taking part in the competition.
Jones Chilengi Sports Initiative partnered with super league side NAPSA Stars to host the charity tournament at Edwin Imboela Stadium in Lusaka.
The charity competition has attracted three super league teams and three national division one teams separated in two groups.
Participants of this tournament include MUZA, Green Buffaloes FC, Lusaka Dynamos FC, Malaiti Rangers, Police College and NAPSA Stars FC.
Group A comprise of Napsa MUZA and Malaiti while group B consists of Buffaloes , Dynamos and College.
Winners from each group will qualify to the finals to be played tomorrow while second teams from each group will play in the third and fourth play offs.
The initiative’s chief executive officer Jones Chilengi Jnr told the Sun sport that the tournament will be an annual event which will partner with different teams.
Chilengi said that NAPSA are the official partners for this year but that going forward the initiative would also invite teams from outside Zambia.
He said the initiative was meant to create awareness about welfare of players and the challenges faced after retiring from the game.
“We want to bring awareness of the challenges soccer players face once their active soccer careers ends,
“Our awareness is meant to help players transition to life after retirement as to what happens after the age of 30 years when they retire,” he said
He said that once they were financially sound, the Chilengi initiative would venture into identifying retired soccer players to be helped with life surviving skills.
Chilengi Senior (late) was the first national soccer team captain to help the nation win its first trophy when Chipolopolo Boys lifted the Council for East and Central African Football Associations (CECAFA) Cup in 1984.
He played over 100 games for the national team having also featured for Green Buffaloes and later coached Nitrogen Chemicals , Ndola United , Zamsure and Hwange FC of Zimbabwe.
The former KK 11 captain died at the age of 44 on April 1 1999.
The tournament is also set to help the participating players prepare for the 2019/2020 soccer Season.
