Former Zambia National Soccer team captain Christopher Katongo has urged young players to start saving money and invest in their future, saying football is a short career.

During a financial planning workshop held at Lusaka’s InterContinental Hotel, the former Chipolopolo skipper said he had been saving and that even if he died, his children would be comfortable.

“Football is a short career. a player can stop playing due to injury and if you are not investing or saving it will be difficult for you to handle your life. I have been saving and investing and today if I die, my children will not suffer because they will have somewhere to live,” said Katongo.

And workshop sponsors, Barclays Bank head of marketing Mato Shimabale said it was important to give players knowledge of how to handle their finances while they were still active in the game.

“Players make a lot of money but they don’t think of their future. They don’t invest. We have a lot of players today who have no bank account because they don’t see a reason of saving.,” Shimabale said.

Shimabale said players become financially desperate when their careers are over because of misusing earnings.

“There is need for players to make wise decisions with their money. As a bank, we would want to see players develop a mind of saving,” said Shimabale.

And FAZ head of competition Juluio Chiluba added his voice to the call.

“As FAZ, we want to tell you players that develop a mind of saving. Learn from other players who stopped playing but are doing fine because they used to save,” said Shimabale.

Yesterday, five soccer clubs participating in this year’s Barclays Bank tournament underwent a financial literacy training. These are Green Buffaloes, NAPSA Stars, Kabwe Warriors, Lusaka Dynamos, and Zanaco.