Gladys Lengwe has resigned as head of the FAZ Referees Committee, slamming the “unprecedented” levels of corruption she encountered.
In her resignation letter, the former FIFA referee revealed that her committee’s attempts to stop corrupt referees from being appointed were constantly blocked by higher powers.
She is walking away because, as she put it, efforts to clean house were met with frustration at every turn.
“I have been refereeing for over 25 years, I have seen how refereeing has evolved over the past years, I was nurtured in an environment of integrity.
I have served under the Referees Association of Zambia and the late Katongo Kabungo as referees manager (may his soul rest in peace. I never saw this level of corruption in refereeing. It may have been there but not to this extent.”
“Mr General Secretary, we (Referees Committee) have been made (reduced) to be a shell of a committee. The Referees Manager Stanley Hachiwa has more powers than us. I questioned the perpetual appointments of the corrupt referee, he has decided to ignore my directives and decided to appoint the same referees. His behaviour has spoken a lot.”
