The Zimbabwe national football team has for the umpteenth time failed to make an impression on the continental scene, the clearest indicator there is something the country is not doing right.
So many times, the Warriors, as the team are known, have flattered to deceive, promising so much and delivering so little.
The knives will certainly be out for coach, Kalisto Pasuwa, but this will be akin to dealing with a symptom rather than the disease.
Without doubt, the biggest handicap Zimbabwean football has lies with the administration of the game.
For decades now, Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) have been the major problem with our football and if that body is not cleaned up, the game will not progress beyond where it is now.
The first part that needs a thorough cleaning is the shadowy group of people called Zifa councillors.
It seems hardly anybody knows what they do, or who they are, yet they have so much power in the administration of the game.
For example, beach football is represented in the Zifa council, but where in Zimbabwe is beach football played?
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We are not picking on beach football, but if that game is non-existent in the country, surely its administrators do not have a right to sit at the table.
There are a number of councillors whose seats at the Zifa table are questionable and yet they are the ones tasked with running the game in the country.
Expecting the Warriors to produce results with questionable leadership at the helm of football is the same as expecting a miracle, which is highly unlikely, nay, impossible.
What is needed now is a big broom to clean up Zifa, if this is not done, national football teams will only continue to disappoint.
The new Zifa president, Philip Chiyangwa is also not exactly a poster boy for good administration, as the way he runs some of his companies will illustrate, but it is too soon to judge him, as he has barely had time at the helm of the body.
However, it is important to state that besides his chequered administration record at Zeco, for example, Zifa councillors in their wisdom, still went ahead and voted for him.
We will not judge Chiyangwa harshly, but we are watching him and the jury is still out on his leadership.
Now focus shifts to the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and this will prove a litmus test for the new administration.
So far Zimbabwe have done well, but how they progress is what will shape the legacy of the new administration.
Travel arrangements and hotel bookings should be done in time, while allowances ought to be given out and in full.
If Zifa fail to clean up their act now, we might as well forget about football in this country.
