FOLOKO PAYS TRIBUTE TO GABON AIR DISASTER FALLEN HEROES

National Olympic Committee of Zambia (NOCZ) President Mr. Alfred Foloko in the company of OYDC Zambia Sports Development Centre CEO Dr. Fredrick Chitangala and Teqball Zambia International Relations Director Mr. Shukri Eljaiedi visited the "Heroes' Acre" Gabon Disaster Burial Site to lay wreaths as Zambia commemorates 27th anniversary since the entire football team and technical staff perished off the coast of Gabon en-route to Senegal in 1993.

Mr. Foloko said that the fallen heroes may be gone but they are not forgotten and it's sad that even as Zambia celebrates the lives of these great Sons of Africa, there are still wrangles in sports organizations.

As the Olympic movement Leader in Zambia, Mr. Foloko has urged sports administrators in Zambia to reflect and think of colleagues that have sacrificed their lives for the betterment of sport in our Country.

“The fallen heroes paid a price for our country with their lives, so any sports administrator today should ask themselves if what they are fighting for is necessary," he said.

Mr. Foloko has further advised everyone contesting for executive positions in the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) Elections to respect the FAZ Constitution, Council, the Minister, and fellow Football Administrators and has called on everyone to ensure that the Constitution takes precedence.

On the other hand, OYDC Zambia – Sports Development Centre CEO Dr. Chitangala has also urged sports administrators as well as everyone involved in sports development to remember heroes practically, which is doing what they dedicated their whole lives to in doing.

Meanwhile, Teqball Zambia International Relations Director Mr. Eljaiedi said that taking time off to remember heroes who sacrificed their lives for football is an honor for any sport-loving person in Zambia like him.

On the evening of 27 April 1993, a DHC-5 Buffalo transport aircraft of the Zambian Air Force crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after taking off from Libreville, Gabon. The flight was carrying most of the Zambian national football team to a FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Senegal in Dakar. All 25 passengers and five crew members were killed.