So far, FIFA’s cure has been worse than the disease

IT is surprising that there are people who were surprised by the Warriors’ calamitous back-to-back defeats to Lesotho and South Africa in the recent World Cup qualifiers that were played in Mzansi.

Actually, it would have been surprising if they had won, especially judging by the wretched preparations in the lead-up to the two matches.

But at the very least, we all expected the team to compete, which they did not.

Losing in the manner they did was painful.

The burly chap dressed in national colours who tried to muscle his way onto the pitch in a desperate attempt to get answers from coach Jairos Tapera in that forgettable encounter, where minnows Lesotho mopped the floor with the Warriors on June 7, might as well have been representing all of us.

It was that painful.

However, looked at differently, the results from the two matches were important insofar as they afforded us a window to see the extent to which our football has declined, as well as the diabolic administration that still plagues the local game.

The appointment of the Normalisation Committee by FIFA on July 11 last year was largely expected to herald the beginning of reforms that were supposed to ultimately nurse our football back to health.

Sadly, this has not been the case.

In fact, the cure now seems to be worse than the disease.

While there has always been a tendency to shift all the blame on ZIFA, sometimes unfairly, particularly in instances where the national teams would have fared badly on the international stage, this time the buck stops with the local football mother body.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to explain why they decided to jettison former Highlanders coach Baltemar Brito after he had acquitted himself fairly well in those two fixtures against Rwanda and Nigeria in November last year.

How did we even come from Brito, Norman Mapeza to Tapera?

Incredible!

It is bad enough that Tapera had to work with a team that had been chosen by ZIFA, but it is also equally unsettling that he also wanted to include Knowledge Musona and Nyasha Mushekwi in the squad, if he had his way.

With all due respect, the two not only had their chance in the national team, but they are also clearly past their prime.

In any case, let us call a spade a spade; when they were at the peak of their powers, they did not achieve anything that would warrant the extraordinary decision to force them out of retirement and back into the fold.

For Tapera, this alone rather betrays desperation on his part.

This is to be expected, particularly from someone who coaches in a league where 50-year-olds can still play competitive football.

But to be fair, even if the Manica Diamonds gaffer was a magician, there was no way he was going to build a formidable side in a week from players who were coming from different parts of the world.

The results, therefore, were always going to be obvious.

The only bright spot from the recent campaign is the emergence of talented prospects such as Tawanda Chirewa, around which the future national team can be built.

As they say, cream will always rise to the top. Unless the sun rises from the west and sets in the east, there is no way Zimbabwe can climb their way up the ladder from the basement to qualify for the World Cup.

Who knows?

Stranger things have happened.

It is, however, prudent to start building a competitive side for the future.

The time is now.

The most important work that is, however, still outstanding is fixing the administration of our local game, which is the source of all our troubles and pain.

It is worrying that the Normalisation Committee, whose mandate expires in about 14 days, seems not to have done anything meaningful to fulfil their terms of reference.

When they were appointed by FIFA, we were told that they were supposed to review the ZIFA statutes and electoral code to ensure their compliance with FIFA statutes, as well as organise and conduct elections of a new ZIFA board.

This clearly has not happened.

Members of the committee will be the only ones who will be happy if their tenure is extended, what with their reported four-figure salaries.

It is high time we hold them to account.

We should not give them the luxury to continue messing up with our football.

They should simply do the job they were appointed to do.

Simple!

Until next time.

Peace!

Yours Sincerely,

Bra Shakes.