Zambia delay Chan camp

Conlyde Luchanga

Zambia’s pre-tournament camping for the 2016 Caf African Nations Championship has been postponed by two weeks.

The team was due to go into camp on December 15 but will instead enter camp in a fortnight’s time starting on December 28.

“The technical bench reluctantly moved camping from Monday to after Christmas to enable the players have enough rest having endured a long season laced with several international commitments,” Football Association of Zambia spokesperson Nkweto Tembwe said.

“We expect them to reserve their energies for the national team so that when they report to camp they will be fresh and able to deliver.”

Zambia will be taking part in only their second Chan tournament when the fourth edition of the championship kicks off on January 16 in Rwanda.

They are in Group D where they have been drawn against Mali, Uganda and arch-rivals Zimbabwe.

Zambia will kick-off their Group D campaign on January 19 against Zimbabwe in what is expected to be a grudge clash after the latter eliminated Chipolopolo from the 2014 qualifier with a 1-0 aggregate win.

Chipolopolo’s only other Chan appearance was in the inaugural tournament hosted by Cote d’Ivoire in 2009 when they finished third under the helm of Herve Renard.