Let’s use time we have from Fifa ban to rethink formula

WHEN Fifa announced the we had been banned from all football activities, we were all in shock and began to question if we should have done whatever it takes to avoid it. But that is neither nor there, the decision had already been made and we began to accept our fate.

So here we are — banned from international football and any and all access to funding closed off from us.

But this does not mean football ceases! Neither does it mean we cannot look at other areas of our local game that have always needed attention. There must be areas that we can attend to during this time in the cold.

I am particularly concerned about the stunted development of footballers in the country and think this is the right time to realign our grassroots needs.

And I know people are going say with what money now that we have lost Fifa grants and funding, but if we are honest with each, how much of those Fifa monies helped to develop Kaitano Tembo or Herbert Dick or Douglas Mloyi or Gibson Homela et al? What of the legends of pre-independence who played at a time when Rhodesia was banned Fifa as well? Did that period not gift us with the likes of George Shaya and company?

Football administrators and their clubs, whether development or otherwise, must have been doing something right! Without the Fifa money to boot!

We had junior leagues that were not funded by Fifa yet produced quality players — Madinda Ndlovu, Agent Sawu, Henry McKopp, Ephraim Chawanda and many others.

This is what we need to use our time away from the international scene — development, development and more development!

Chances are the players who currently make up the senior national team will be around or at least aged a little by the time we are reintegrated into the Fifa family. Does this then mean we ask Fifa to postpone our international commitments while we rebuild our national team or teams? Obviously not!

If and when our ban is lifted, we will need to have active teams on the ground to get us going. They may not be playing football as combined teams but we definitely need to have some sort of plan on the ground to ensure that we have the players once we need to pick a national team. I see no reason why we cannot use this time to restart our junior leagues, increase number of juniors involved in football as well as improve quality of grassroots coaching.

There is a saying that “its darkest before dawn” but one still needs to open their eyes to appreciate the filtering light! In this case, our dawn is the opportunity to breed a world-class player without the distractions that come with international duty or the pressures on young players. We can now literally produce them by the dozen and when we do play international football again, we will have standing squads for all our national teams.

We should use this time away from international football to build a strong base of Under-13, Under-15, Under-17, Under-20, Under-23 and senior national team players.

Imagine a scenario where we have a pool of some 40 or 50 eligible under-13 players ready to represent their country. Imagine the same numbers at every age group all the way to the top. This is the right time for us to be concentrating on the provincial junior tournaments of the old days like the Champion of Champions!

By the time we get to play Senegal or even our neighbours South Africa, these boys will have played so much competitive football that small things like decision making under pressure become a standard for them. Similarly, national coaches will also be able to develop a definitive style that says WARRIORS!

This ban means a national team coach has all the time in the world to travel across the country and have a look at prospect in Watsomba or Uzumba or Mangwe! It would make his or her life even easier if we had development tournaments where these players will be identified in a highly competitive atmosphere.

We need a return to the old Zifa Junior Cup — how else are we going to identify and develop young talent when there are no tournaments in which they can participate in? But like I said, if there are tournaments in every district across the country, then there is no reason why we cannot have a whole bag full of well-developed junior players at our disposal.

If a local can walk straight into the English Premier League, it means we have the natural talent locally and what we now need is to make sure these gems are identified and helped along. We need not wait for surprise when it comes to talent identification and development — this must be something that we do outside of international commitments.

I am happy that in women’s football this is already underway with the junior league running — this is the best way to bit the ban and come out of it stronger technically!

We have been banned from playing international football not from playing football — let’s play football, let’s give the young ones something to play for!

God bless us all and let’s keep loving our football.