Sports Council
By Dickson Jere
I got a call few years ago from a lawyer colleague – Willis Muhanga – who wanted to know why this creature is called “National” Sports Council of Zambia (NSCZ). He was my classmate in Legislative Drafting Course and we were doing assignments around sports law.
“Where does the word National come from?” He asked, inquisitively.
I perused through “The Sports Council of Zambia Act”, Chapter 142 of the Laws of Zambia and realized that the correct name is “Sports Council of Zambia” without the prefix of “National”.
So take note.
Anyway, that is besides the point.
You see, the Sports Council is creature of statute – created by Parliament in 1988 to be the sole regulator of sports in Zambia. Therefore, no sports association or federation can exist without being registered annually by Sports Council. It’s like a ZICTA of sports. Or LAZ of sports. You cannot exist as FAZ without it. You cannot exist as Swimming Union (ZASU) without it. It gives the license for your legal existence in the country. Currently, all 57 Sports Federations are registered with Sports Council. Gymnastics is currently suspended by same body. Simply, Sports Council is a serious regulatory body. It cannot be wished away unless through Parliament.
One of the powers which Parliament gave to this creature is to supervise sports federations and make sure they are compliant with their own constitutions. It can also suspend any federation for wrongdoing. So, before a National Federation can join a continental body or international Federation, it must be registered first by Sports Council.
“Ensure that sports groups at all levels conform to the rules and norms governing the particular sport,” reads one of its statutory functions.
Parliament was even clever on how it drafted the Sports Council Act. It gave the Minister or Government minimal powers in choosing the board. Except the Chairperson appointed by Government, the rest of the board members (seven)are elected among sports administrators. Sports administrators govern themselves at this level. The highest decision making organ is the Council that comprises of one representative of all Sports Federations in Zambia. The rest come from designated agencies. In short, Parliament said “you regulate yourselves” in sports. Prominent and respected lawyers such Julius Sakala,SC and Chifumu Banda, SC have chaired this important body.
Apart from Sports Council, there is National Olympic Committee of Zambia (NOCZ), which is local branch of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It regulates elite sports and coordinates the Olympic Games participation. In Zambia, it also doubles as the Commonwealth Games Association (CGA). It also takes athletes to the Commonwealth Games. NOCZ/CGA is associate member of Sports Council and work closely.
Yes, in the last few years, Sports Council looked moribund. It had no CEO for almost a decade except one who was acting from the Ministry of Sports until recently. Secondly, it does not have a board for a sometime. Elections are due soon – so I was told. Last year or so, we agreed to add an Arbitration Tribunal within Sports Council to have the mandate to resolve all sports disputes outside Court. There is even an MOU with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators to coordinate that process.
By the way, Zambia is not only country with this kind of setup. Almost all countries have such bodies to register and regulate sports Federations. South Africa for instance has combined Sports Council and National Olympic Committee to form one body – South Africa Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC). Botswana has the National Sports Commission.
My point is that Sports Council is not just a stakeholder in the sports administration in Zambia. It is the mother of all sports Federations and they cannot exist without it. Government can only fund a sports body that is registered by Sports Council…
Now, tell me. Where did the prefix “National” come from when it is not in the statute?
