Kalusha Bwalya

Kalusha Bwalya
President of Football Association of Zambia (FAZ)
In office
2008–2016
Preceded byTeddy Mulonga
Succeeded byAndrew Kamanga
Personal details
Born (1963-08-16) 16 August 1963 (age 61)
Mufulira, Northern Rhodesia
NationalityZambian
OccupationFootballer (retired)
Football administrator
Association football career
Position(s) Forward, winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1979–1980 Mufulira Blackpool
1980–1985 Mufulira
1985–1989 Cercle Brugge 95 (30)
1989–1994 PSV Eindhoven 101 (25)
1994–1997 América 88 (21)
1997 Necaxa 17 (1)
1998 Al Wahda
1998 León 13 (1)
1999 Irapuato
1999 Veracruz
2000 Correcaminos 13 (5)
International career
1983–2004 Zambia[1] 87 (39)
Managerial career
2003–2006 Zambia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Kalusha Bwalya (born 16 August 1963) is a Zambian former professional footballer. He is Zambia's eighth-most[broken anchor] capped player and third on the list of all-time top goalscorers behind Godfrey Chitalu and Alex Chola. Kalusha was named African Footballer of the Year in 1988 by the magazine France Football and was nominated for the 1996 FIFA World Player of the Year where he was voted the 12th-best player in the world, the first to be nominated after playing the entire year for a non-European club.

His older brother Benjamin Bwalya played professional football, and his younger brother Joel Bwalya also played for Zambia.[2] His cousin is former Cardiff City and Welsh national team member Robert Earnshaw.

His career as a player, coach and president of the Football Association of Zambia is partly shown in the documentary film "Eighteam".[3]

On 20 March 2016, Kalusha lost the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) elections in an upset to businessman-turned football official Andrew Kamanga by 163 to 156 votes.[4]

In August 2018, the world soccer governing body FIFA banned Bwalya for two years from all football-related activities at both national and international level. The FIFA adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee found him guilty of having violated article 16 (Confidentiality) and article 20 (Offering and accepting gifts and other benefits) of the FIFA Code of Ethics. It is alleged that Bwalya received a bribe in the form of a gift from Mohammed Bin Hammam, a Qatari official.[5] Kalusha is considered one of the greatest players in Zambian football history.[6]

  1. ^ Kalusha Bwalya – International Goals rsssf.org
  2. ^ Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Joel Bwalya, Kalusha's often forgotten brother". CAFOnline.com.
  3. ^ "Eighteam (2014) – IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Kalusha Bwalya unseated as Zambia FA president by Andrew Kamanga". BBC Sport. 20 March 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  5. ^ Editor, EABW (10 August 2018). "Zambian Legend Kalusha Bwalya banned from football by FIFA". East African Business Week. Retrieved 19 May 2021. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  6. ^ Oludare, Shina (28 April 2020). "'Their dreams are our dreams' – Bwalya in moving tribute to Zambia's late heroes". Goal. Retrieved 28 May 2021. the Zambian football great