It is ZIFA that needs fixing!

IF you are an avid Warriors fan, you better invest in a scientific calculator.

You will probably need it later as the FIFA World Cup campaign continues.

Over the years, we have become so adept at working out permutations, scenarios and probabilities of how we could qualify.

So far, we anchor the six-team log standings with two points.

Lesotho, the tiny mountainous kingdom, leads the pack after handing us a 2-0 whopping during Friday’s encounter.

What is, however, worrying is the fact that the outcome was not unexpected.

Bra Shakes and crew warned of an unwanted outcome, which became increasingly likely when ZIFA delayed announcing the coach to take charge of the encounter and the team itself.

It gets worse.

The hastily recruited gaffer, Jairos Tapera, had to make do with players who had been shortlisted by ZIFA.

The ludicrous and mad script resulted in the assembly of a curious group of foreign-based players, who were eager to represent their motherland for the first time, and a motley of familiar local and international players.

But there is no way these players could have been expected to gel in such a short space of time, and it showed on the pitch, as the team struggle to find its rhythm.

Although we did not expect a miracle, playing so bad that we could lose 2-0 at home (away from home) to Lesotho is pure madness.

Fans are understandably livid.

All this is unfortunate for the young, talented players, especially the British Brigade, who donned the national colours for the first time.

The 20-year-old Wolverhampton Wanderers player Tawanda Blessing Chirewa was decent, but, in the final analysis, the final result makes him look ordinary.

Tapera is not a bad coach either.

They were all set up to fail.

This is what makes the expression “failing to plan is planning to fail” the truism that it has always been.

But we should not throw away the baby with the bath water.

There were some positives from the Lesotho game that we should carry into the match against bitter rivals Bafana Bafana on Tuesday.

So, Tapera and the players should concentrate on doing what they do best.

As Bra Shakes warned last week, ZIFA is in the business of wrecking careers.

It is ZIFA, and not the game, that needs to be reformed.

Now that it looks more than certain that the tenure of the Normalisation Committee will be extended, they should concentrate on what FIFA tasked them to do.

They should now begin laying a solid foundation for the sustenance of the local game.

We need to finally get the structure of administration of local football right, be it for men or for women’s football.

But most importantly we need to revive junior football development; that is the only way to ensure we begin to get talented players again.

Only when we get the basics right will our football be nursed back to health.

We need to learn how former minnows such as Mauritania, for example, which had an impressive run at the recent African Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire, have invested in their football to produce competitive outfits.

The success of Mauritania Football Association boss Ahmed Yahya is particularly notable.

He set up youth teams and got the country’s biggest company, Telcom, to sponsor their league.

He also fixed players’ salaries to ensure they stayed focused on football alone, among other interventions.

His most impactful contribution, however, was putting a 10-million-euro FIFA Goal Projects fund to good use.

He renovated the country’s national stadium, built an ultra-modern FA headquarters and also established a training complex with hotel rooms, where he housed the country’s Under-15 team and started a youth development programme. This ultimately shaped the country’s football.

We have to do the same.

Until next time.

Peace!

Yours Sincerely,

Bra Shakes.