A Zambian family, who have become a social media sensation because of their enthusiastic pot-banging support of the national football team, have been rewarded with free tickets to all the World Cup qualifying home games.
Pictures of Lovemore Kabwata, his wife Christine and brother Heinz brandishing wooden cooking sticks and kitchen pots cheering the team on last Friday have been widely shared.
The squad, nicknamed the Chipolopolo, won the match against Congo-Brazzaville 4-2.
The Football Association of Zambia (Faz) on Monday invited the family – now known to Zambians as The Mpoto Family (meaning “the Pot Family”) – to their offices where they announced the free tickets.
They were “rewarded for upholding family values, abhorring violence at stadia and for their passionate support to the Zambia men’s and women’s national team,” Faz said on Facebook.
The government has said that it would also reward them with tickets for an away game.
For Lovemore, he said football was “all about love” hence supporting the sport with his family.
“We want to see people embrace football, embrace each other regardless of politics, regardless of what people are saying,” he said.
“At the end of the day Zambia is for all of us and the Zambian national team represents all of us so when it loses everybody loses.”