Kenyan athletes last week produced historic performance to finish third after United States and Russia when they bagged in 17 medals out of which seven were gold during the just ended World Championships held in Daegu, South Korea.
Through their breathtaking performance, Kenya becomes the first African country to finish third in the history of the world athletics championship.
Kenya produced history within history, when they produced one, two, three in marathon, one of the rarest feats in athletics, hence stamping their authority in long distance running in the world.
Both Tanzania and Uganda were represented in the championships, but the former returned home, as expected, empty handed and as usual with long tales of excuses.
The world athletics championships ended one day before Tanzania took on Algerians in an African soccer qualifier in which Taifa Stars were held to a one-all draw in a match played at the National Stadium.
Although self-styled soccer pundits have come up with numerous stories over Taifa Stars’ performance, the truth still remains that Tanzanians are out of the Afcon finals.
Apart from doing quite commendably in the South Korean international meet, Kenya’s national soccer team, Harambee Stars are likely to qualify for the Afcon finals.
But unlike Harambee Stars, Uganda’s (the Cranes) qualification for the Afcon finals is almost guaranteed, hence leaving Tanzania which first qualified for Afcon finals in 1980 still in the woods!
And less than three months from now, Tanzania Mainland, which had been a mandated territory under the British, would be marking 50 years since she attained her independence on December 9th 1961.
Major plans by the government are already underway to ensure that the national celebrations are organized in such a manner that they befit the occasion.
And in Tanzania’s parlance, that can only mean one thing, expenditure of staggering amount of money in the name of marking the auspicious occasion!
But for any celebrations to make sense, it is important that merry making which usually takes a variety of forms that include, among others, dancing and sporting activities, are organized.
Such an important occasion would have made a lot of sense had Tanzania qualified for the Afcon finals which would be kicking off in January next year (2012).
Had the government been serious about its planned merry making at the end of this year, it would have spent the money currently set aside for the occasion in ensuring that Taifa Stars qualified for the Afcon finals.
Unfortunately it (Tanzania) did not do that and the end result is that Tanzania Mainland would be marking half a century of its independence without any major silverware in its sporting arena!
Apart from wining less than five medals in the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Ednburgh, Scotland and Christchurch, New Zealand in 1974 and the All Africa Games in Lagos, Nigeria in 1973, through Titus Simba (in boxing), Filbert Bayi and Nyambui (in athletics), Tanzania Mainland has nothing to write home about!
Even newcomers to the African family like South Africa which gained its majority rule in May, 1993, have beaten Tanzania in terms of sporting supremacy!
For to date, South Africa holds three major titles after winning the Rugby World Cup in 1995 through its rugby national team, the Springbok (mabokoboko), the Africa Nations Cup and African Club Champions through their national soccer team, Bafana Bafana (the boys) and one of its soccer clubs, Orlando Pirates respectively and all in 1996.
Whilst Tanzania continues to fumble in one international tournament after another, former sporting minnows like Botswana have finally joined the continent’s soccer elites after qualifying for the Afcon finals.
Others who are on the verge of qualifying for the Afcon finals include Libya and Niger, the latter despite being involved in a war aimed at deposing Muammar Ghadaffi!
But when one looks critically at all the foregoing countries, one thing comes out, and that is Uganda, Kenya, Botswana, Libya, Niger and South Africa are doing well in sports both in the continent and the world at large because their economies are more organized than that of Tanzania.
Tanzania will never do well in sports as long as major actors in the field are not well organized; for sports, just like any business activity, requires certain approach, an organized, disciplinary approach which is for inexplicable reasons is badly lacking in this country!
In football, a team cannot win any game if its management does not invest in the team through youth development soccer programmes in the form of soccer academies.
Kenya, Uganda, Botswana, Niger and Libya are already reaping rewards from their sweat because they had invested in youth soccer programmes and the foregoing countries already have players plying their wares abroad in quality clubs.
Unless Tanzanians start looking at sports and football in particular, as business, they will never get anywhere!
And much as a highly qualified coach like Jan Poulsen is important, yet one should not expect such a coach to train national players in football basics!
The point is, those who qualify for selection in the national team are supposed to be complete players, fully equipped in all that a footballer is supposed to know that include, among others, formations.
Indeed, one does not bring a person of Poulsen’s stature to train soccer players on how to execute, for instance, wall passes and the likes!
On the contrary, you bring Poulsen to impart on the players tactics for winning a given game.
Tanzania has lately witnessed expenditure of a lot of money, at club level, in buying players from outside Tanzania.
While the practice is not bad, yet members ought to exercise some caution lest the exercise is used by some unscrupulous club officials as conduit for siphoning money from clubs through the purchase of sub-standard players.
However, when all is said and done, establishment of soccer academies by clubs and businessmen and women remain the best and proven way of developing soccer in the country.
By Attilio Tagalile
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