The FAZ Council has voted overwhelmingly to expel vice-president Richard Kazala and Executive Committee member Blackwell Siwale ©FAZ

The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) Council has voted overwhelmingly to expel vice-president Richard Kazala and Executive Committee member Blackwell Siwale during their Annual General Meeting (AGM).

FAZ members also approved a new constitution at the meeting which takes into account preventing discrimination against footballers or officials who are homosexual.

In November, FAZ President Andrew Kamanga suspended Kazala and Siwale for alleged gross misconduct.

Kazala and Siwale were accused of swindling the FAZ out of money after under declaring the amount Government officials paid for tickets to the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifier between Zambia and Nigeria in Ndola in October.

Zambian President Edgar Lungu paid K1,650,000 (£207/$318/€243) for match tickets.

However, the pair only remitted K1,500,000 (£188/$289/€221) to the FAZ.

The vote was taken during FAZ’s AGM held at the New Government Complex in the Zambian capital of Lusaka.

"Their expulsion was not immediate as it came after their suspension was confirmed via a simple majority voting process in which 257 out of 278 votes were in favour of the suspension," read a statement from FAZ.

"The expulsion vote was passed by 264 votes out of 284."

The vote was taken during FAZ’s Annual General Meeting held in Lusaka ©FAZ
The vote was taken during FAZ’s Annual General Meeting held in Lusaka ©FAZ

During the meeting, the FAZ Council also voted in favour of a new constitution after FIFA threatened to impose sanctions on the body if they did not make amendments.

The revised text made reference to discrimination based on sexual orientation under Article 3.2, taking into consideration Zambian law, which criminalises homosexuality.

Article 3.2 now guarantees that a country, private person or group of people shall not be discriminated against on account of race, skin colour, national or social origin, gender, language, political opinion or any other opinion, wealth, birth or any other status.

"It is a decision that we have had to put off for a long time and now is an hour where it cannot wait any longer, " said President Kamanga.

"Every one of us today should reflect on what kind of future we want for our game.

"We have skirted around the constitution for a long time and now is decision time.

"It is not time to make excuses but face the problem head on.

"The constitution question has been with us and all of us are well aware of how grave the matter at hand is.

"FIFA has made it clear that we will face isolation from international football if we do not move alongside everyone in the global game."