CJ bitter with FAM

John ‘CJ’ Banda has said his recent injury has given him a salutary reminder that FAM hardly cares for Flames players that have fallen on hard times.

The Nation had on Monday contacted Banda, until recently viewed as the Flames’ new saviour, for the progress of his recent knee injury he received while playing for Blue Eagles.

“I am not demanding much, save for FAM to show that it cares. Just a call and a ‘hello’ would mean much to a patient.

“The realisation that I am only valued when fit is haunting me. It has affected me,” explained Banda whose right leg is in a plaster of Paris (PoP).

The right-winger with a knack for scoring has since featuring for the Flames on July 6’s Independence Celebrations game, missed assignments in Liberia and Ghana.

“I got injured at club level, yes, but [it still hurts] nobody from FAM has asked me about my health. It is only the Flames team manager [Stuart Mbolembole] that I have, at least, talked to since that injury,” he said.

Nonetheless, Banda is hoping to recover in time for the second leg, second round of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying round.

“I know fitness will be a problem but I am ready to die for my country. I am getting better. The PoP will be removed on Monday,” he said.

Another forgotten Flames member Panganeni Ndovi on Tuesday said nobody from the Flames coaching panel, let alone FAM has bothered to contact him.

He is recovering from a knee injury he received while playing for Silver Strikers last November.

“I am used to this. You tend to feel like a hoe that a farmer only needs when [it is time for farming]. Even at my club, it is [only] the chairperson who has bothered to know my progress,” the defender said.

Big Bullets midfielder James Chilapondwa said the problems could not be with FAM, but a few inexperienced officials, adding: “In Tanzania, the FA pays for the treatment of players even when they get injured with their clubs.”

FAM technical director and Flames technical adviser Jack Chamangwana on Tuesday pushed responsibility of monitoring injured players to Flames’ doctor Matthews Mangondo, whom he claimed, provides the association with updates.