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Kalusha Bwalya
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. 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".
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.
In August 2018, the world football 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. Kalusha is considered one of the greatest players in Zambian football history.
Bwalya's career in Europe began at Cercle Brugge in Belgium. In his first season, he was the club's top scorer and was twice voted supporters' player of the year. Such was his impact that Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven took him to the Eredivisie, and he describes winning the championship twice in 1990/91 and 1991/92, under Bobby Robson, as a career highlight.
He jokingly adds that: "Most of the time we played in the opponents half, because the team was so good. You know, we had Romario, Gerald Vanenburg, Eric Gerets, Wim Kieft and Hans van Breukelen and just to be with that group, to train with them day in, day out, was an experience."
Bwalya's next stop was Club America, to whom he moved in 1994. The Mexican club's home ground is the legendary Azteca, an arena of which the Zambian icon has very fond memories. As he told FIFA.com: "I am privileged to have played in the best stadium in the world – and to have been able to call it my home ground." The Mexico experience in general was cherished by Bwalya, who devoted almost eight years of his career to the country and recalls his time there as "probably the best of my life"[citation needed]. Despite his good performances at América and gaining a status of a fan favorite. Kalusha is also remembered for missing an empty net goal by striking the post against Cruz Azul.
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Kalusha Bwalya
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. 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".
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.
In August 2018, the world football 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. Kalusha is considered one of the greatest players in Zambian football history.
Bwalya's career in Europe began at Cercle Brugge in Belgium. In his first season, he was the club's top scorer and was twice voted supporters' player of the year. Such was his impact that Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven took him to the Eredivisie, and he describes winning the championship twice in 1990/91 and 1991/92, under Bobby Robson, as a career highlight.
He jokingly adds that: "Most of the time we played in the opponents half, because the team was so good. You know, we had Romario, Gerald Vanenburg, Eric Gerets, Wim Kieft and Hans van Breukelen and just to be with that group, to train with them day in, day out, was an experience."
Bwalya's next stop was Club America, to whom he moved in 1994. The Mexican club's home ground is the legendary Azteca, an arena of which the Zambian icon has very fond memories. As he told FIFA.com: "I am privileged to have played in the best stadium in the world – and to have been able to call it my home ground." The Mexico experience in general was cherished by Bwalya, who devoted almost eight years of his career to the country and recalls his time there as "probably the best of my life"[citation needed]. Despite his good performances at América and gaining a status of a fan favorite. Kalusha is also remembered for missing an empty net goal by striking the post against Cruz Azul.