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Stop the embarrassment
Am I the only one who is reading insincerity in what Fam’s acting president Anderson Zimba said on raising allowances and perks for the Flames? While Zimba sounded serious about working on the technical panel’s working conditions, it was apparent to me that the reference to players was an afterthought which came because Garry Chirwa asked.
If I need to lend credence to my conviction, Zimba said the association might also review players’ allowances. The key word is might. Contrast that with what he said about the technical panel. Fam is meeting on Thursday to discuss their perks. My take is that the players’ allowances may appear on any other business if they are discussed at all.
Let me mention that I am not against our coaches getting more money. I even suggested the other day that if our local coaches feel they have what it takes to deserve high perks, they should not go for the peanuts they are offered. Fam should not be allowed to get things on the cheap and if they do not have the means to afford quality coaches, they may as well close shop.
That notwithstanding, my argument is that if the technical panel need motivating — and I have every reason to believe that they do — the players who do the job on the pitch need it more. No matter how motivated the coaches are, chances of getting the desired results are almost zero if they have to work with a disgruntled lot.
I was discussing with my colleagues earlier in the week when I stumbled across a Fam press release that was calling players into national camp. The association was asking players from the South to go to its offices in Blantyre and those from the Centre to gather at Crossroads Service Station in Lilongwe.
I was imagining national players, who are expected to hoist the national flag, carrying their bags into a minibus and dropping in Nyambadwe. Perhaps that is a better scenario. But imagine a group of players gathered at a service station, their eyes facing the Blantyre direction waiting for a minibus whose arrival time is not definite. Meanwhile, perhaps they are having a go at sugarcane.
Lest we forget, we are talking about national team players whose role is to represent all of us in national tournaments. I know we are a poor country and Fam is down there among the poorest of institutions, but are we serious that the association cannot get a vehicle or two that should go around to pick 35 players from their places of residence? Spare me the embarrassment.
On which note I think I should commend our players for their patriotism and commitment to the cause. They do their best under the most trying of circumstances. Sports Minister Henry Chimunthu Banda may have a point when he says Fam only thinks about the Flames but I believe that even then, the thinking leaves a lot to be desired and we certainly should do better.
And in case Fam officials are not aware — and it would not surprise me — Kenya’s Harambee Stars, who are the Flames’ next opponents in a fortnight gave Uganda a 4-1 hiding on Wednesday. That is not aimed at scaring anyone but a wake-up call that our ambassadors have their work cut out.
A bit of foreign news for the sake of Lesson Masiyano in Nsanje and Chifundo Sohaya at the Polytechnic. I am happy with how the English Premiership started last week. Nothing happened to change my view that the gaps are set to close. We are in for a real treat. To quote the Liverpool fans at White Hart Lane on Saturday, Michael who?
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