Recent results are not encouraging for Zambian Football fanatics following Zanaco, ZESCO United and Nkana’s poor performance in the first leg encounter of their respective CAF assignments.

Nkana lost away 3-0 against CR Belouizdad of Algeria, ZESCO United lost 1-0 at home against Asec Mimosas while Zanaco FC were also handed a 1-2 home defeat by Mbabane Swallows.

They say it’s not over until the fat lady sings and yes all the three Zambian teams have the ammunition to deliver in the second leg.

However, it is the performance in the first leg that has many Zambian Football followers are asking. Why this poor performance?

I have said it before and I will say it again.
We need to align our Zambian Super League to the European Calendar so that we can compete effectively.

I know many Zambians will argue that weather and infrastructure will be a detriment to the League and also loss of revenue as many people would prefer to watch EPL that Bola yapa Zed.

In as much that is true, we also need to learn that development comes with sacrifice and in most cases moving forward would mean getting rid of the old principles.

Let’s also also look at the other side of the coin and learn from its benefits.

The Zambian Super League is expanding its horizons but watching Nkana, Zanaco and ZESCO United lose their respective fixtures in CAF Competitions has left many wondering as to why?

The reason is simple. The Zambian Super Division is yet to kick off on the 17th of March 2018 and it clearly means many of the players have not yet reached full fitness.

In the case of ZESCO United losing 1-0 at home to Asec Mimosas of Ivory Coast, the Ivorian League has been on and is currently in match day 16 while our league is yet to start meaning ZESCO United players have had little game time coming from Pre-season.

Zanaco lost 1-2 at home in the first leg and normally one would think Mbabane Swallows should not present a rough outing for the Zambian team.

But again the Swaziland Premier League started in September 2017 meaning it is highly likely that a team from Swaziland at the moment is at full capacity in terms of fitness levels while our local players are yet to regain their fitness.

Nkana were handed a Football lesson in Algeria by CR Belouizdad in the first leg losing 3-0. Again the Algerian Professionnelle 1 is at match day 22 meaning the League has been on for a while and teams in that League are at full fitness.

Equally Al Masry of Egypt defeated Green Buffaloes of Zambia in the preliminary stage of the CAF Confederations Cup simply because the Buffaloes players were coming from Pre-season training camps. The Egyptian League is currently at Match day 28 meaning the teams in Egypt are in full flow are fitness levels quite high putting our teams in Zambia at a slight disadvantage.

Well the evidence is there for all to see. Had it been that our League in Zambia starts in August, most of the teams in the CAF Competitions would have been at 100 percent.

The Football Association of Zambia are planning to delink the League and have engaged English Premier League expert David Dein to help spearhead the process.

Delinking the League would mean FAZ will no longer fully participate in running the Domestic competition. The intention is to make it professional and attractive to various sponsors.

One of the first steps to take in delinking the League from the Association is to change the cycle of the League from March to August.

This will come with a lot of benefits to our League. Currently the Zambian League clashes with FIFA Calendar dates most fixtures in the Domestic League normally fall in the same period with World Cup and Africa Cup qualifiers.

This sometimes makes it difficult for teams to release players on time causing disputes between clubs and National teams. This in turn causes unnecessary postponements to the League fixtures as teams will settle for rescheduling their games. This happened on many occasions last season and many teams like ZESCO United had fallen behind and had to play back to back fixtures just to catch up with the rest.

If the Zambian Super League is aligned with the European Leagues, chances are that we might organize quality friendly games. At the times when Zambia is trying to organize a friendly game our league calendar is in full swing and most teams will be engaged in crucial matches.

Who recalls the case of City of Lusaka players coming out to warm up ready to face Zanaco in a league match only to realize that the Bankers had no intention of showing up themselves because more than 6 players were summoned for National duty? Had a bit of a chuckle after that. ??? OMGs and Emojis flying all over social media.!!

Lastly Zambian Football will only get better with time but we are not fully tapping into the full potential it has. Money being spent by Local teams is huge and good for attracting sponsors and talent from across the globe.

But we would like to see a bit of that spent on infrastructure development. Stadiums are crucial if the process of changing the cycle of the League is to be fully implemented.

Poor drainage systems will lead to waterlogged pitches but if teams start focusing a bit on improving stadium infrastructure, the benefits of changing the cycle are limitless.

Photo courtesy: ZESCO United

Kelvin Trudeau Musako

Football Journalist | TotalEnergies AFCON 2021 Photographer | Media Officer - Kabwe Warriors FC | Graphic Designer | Videographer