IT seems we just never learn.
The road to Gabon for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals starts in less than 28 days and I do not see the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) employing the much talked about expatriate coach.
Nothing has been done from the time the declaration was made that FAZ will not need Honour Janza’s services as Football House was looking for a more qualified expatriate coach to drill the Chipolopolo.
But the story seems to have died a natural death, especially after Government said it had no money to pay a new foreign coach.
And I am made to wonder if at all we take things seriously. We just never learn.
Rather we opt to leave things to chance and in the end cry foul when the Chipolopolo misfire.
What are the chances that a new coach will be employed to steer the Chipolopolo canoe into the qualifiers and what time will the new trainer have to know the players and come up with a game plan?
Alas, we may have to turn back to the same Janza we said was not qualified for the job.
Janza has, in my view, shown true patriotism by sticking to help prepare the squad through the COSAFA Senior Challenge Cup and possibly he might just be the man to continue with the job.
That is why it is sometimes better to keep mute until when something materialises than making pronouncements that fail to come alive. We should have the coach by now to take charge of the team by knowing the players, especially during the COSAFA Cup imminent.
Janza, going by the stories carried in the media, has the support of the players to carry on as coach despite FAZ not paying the man for 10 months.
Preparations do not necessary mean a team playing a series of friendly matches but even simple things like this can have a negative impact on the team.
Lastly, it is a pity to hear that the netball team might fail to take part at the Sydney 2015 World Netball Championship, Africa Netball Championship and Diamond Challenge in South Africa due to lack of resources.
Netball is one of the sports that has made tremendous progress in the recent past despite having no financial muscle and qualifying to the World Cup is no mean achievement.
It is sad that the Netball Association of Zambia (NAZ) only managed to pay K35,000 from the K300,000 needed for accommodation and other logistics for the World Cup.
Furthermore, NAZ is far from meeting even half of the K1.8 million budget and it therefore hoped that Sports Minister Vincent Mwale could come to the aid of the association by trying to secure funds from the private sector.
Mwale did it once for Exodus International Boxing Promotions (EIBP) when he helped appeal to the corporate world to assist the stable with funds to host Esther Phiri’s World International Boxing Association (WIBA) and World International Boxing Federation (WIBF) unification fight.
Wishing you all a wonderful sporting weekend and to continue sending those comments to eliaschipepo@gmail.com or elias.chipepo@times.co.zm