Next month, Zambia will walk into Stade 5 Juillet in Algiers to face Algeria in the opening match of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

‎And the question is simple: Why is Zambia doing this with an interim coach?

‎The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has had George Lwandamina in the Chipolopolo hot seat since March, after the departure of Moses Sichone. That’s 5 months. Yet as we head into a campaign that will define the next 2 years of Zambian football, Lwandamina is still “interim” and still doubling as Nchanga Rangers coach.

‎That is not preparation. That is firefighting.

‎INTERIM MEANS UNCERTAINTY

‎Players need clarity. A coach needs authority. When the man giving team talks doesn’t know if he’ll be there next window, the message gets diluted.

‎As former Chipolopolo midfielder Gift Kampamba put it: “Most of the time Zambian coaches just work like volunteers without contracts and that creates uncertainties as they coach the National Team.”

‎How do you plan a 2-year qualification cycle, call up players, build a system, when your own job description has an expiry date?

‎SPLIT FOCUS DOESN’T WIN IN ALGIERS

‎Lwandamina is a good coach. He proved that between 2015-2016 and he’s doing work at Nchanga. But he cannot be in Chingola on Saturday and in camp on Monday and expect to compete with Algeria, who will have a full-time technical bench, scouts, analysts, and 30 days of camp.

‎Kampamba is right: “It won’t help for Lwandamina to coach the National Team and a club at the same time. “The AFCON qualifiers are not a COSAFA tournament. This is the real thing.

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THE DOUBLE STANDARD

‎This is the part that hurts most. We saw it with the Women’s National Team. Bruce Mwape took Zambia to a World Cup without a contract. Nora Häuptle arrived and got one immediately.

‎Kampamba asked the question we are all thinking: “Give Lwandamina a two- or three-year contract and see how he will perform.

‎If we believe in local coaches, prove it. Not with words. With contracts, with incentives, with time.

‎THE CLOCK IS TICKING

‎September is not far. Algeria away is not a friendly. You don’t start a qualification campaign hoping the interim becomes permanent. You start it with a plan.

‎‎FAZ has a choice: Either back Lwandamina fully now, release him from Nchanga, and give him the tools to succeed. Or go out and get someone else but do it now.

‎What we cannot do is walk into Algiers with a question mark on the bench and expect 3 points.

‎Because in football, hesitation costs goals. And in administration, hesitation costs qualifications.