Pétanque in Zambia

Zambia is named on the FIPJP's published list of affiliated federations for its Africa confederation, one of 24 African countries on that list alongside Senegal, Mauritius, Gabon, Libya, and Uganda. Beyond that listing, we could not independently verify an active domestic pétanque federation, a named president, a club network, or a competition result for a Zambian team.

The African confederation itself has been split since January 2025, when a constituent assembly held in Dakar under the FIPJP's auspices created the Confédération Africaine de Sport Pétanque (CASP) as a rival to the long-standing Confédération Africaine des Sports Boules (CASB), led by Idrissou Ibrahima of Benin. The FIPJP recognised CASP and withdrew its recognition of CASB, but on 21 May 2026 the Court of Arbitration for Sport annulled that withdrawal and ruled that CASB regains its status as a FIPJP continental confederation, without excluding CASP. Two days later, on 23 May 2026 in Abidjan, CASP elected Mahmoud Archane, former president of Morocco's pétanque federation, as its president. The two bodies remained split as of autumn 2026.

What We Could Verify

On the FIPJP's Africa page, which now presents CASP as the confederation, most listed countries link to a national-federation information sheet; Zambia (like Uganda) appears as a name only, with no federation name, officials, or contact details. The National Olympic Committee of Zambia, which administers the country's Olympic, Commonwealth, and All-Africa Games representation, does not list a boules or pétanque federation among the national sports bodies we were able to check. We also found no named federation official and no press coverage of a Zambian team or player competing at an African or World Championship.

Why the Gap

This pattern, a place on the continental affiliation list without a visible domestic competition structure, mirrors what we've found for other smaller African members (see Uganda for the closest comparison, Djibouti for a case with more evidence of grassroots play, or Palau for a similar gap in a different confederation). It's possible organized pétanque exists in Zambia through informal expatriate or diaspora play without yet having a documented federation presence online.

We will update this page as soon as we can verify a federation, club, or competition record for Zambia from a citable primary source.