FOLLOWING a month-long hiatus due to the African Nations Championship (CHAN) and the Mapinduzi Cup, the enthralling Premier League is poised to resume on February 1.

And, once again, it is those two familiar adversaries, Simba and Young Africans, who are presently engaged in a ding-dong battle for the greatly cherished league crown.

Indeed, a look at the current Mainland Premier League standings will reveal that Simba are top of the table with 40 points while Young Africans are excitingly a mere one point behind their bitter foes in second place.

What truly makes things hugely interesting is the fact that Azam FC occupy third place with 36 points, which means that the ‘Ice Cream Makers’ are within striking distance of the league’s pacesetters, Simba.

Naturally, it is expected that Simba and Young Africans will be champing at the bit to garner more points once the always pulsating premier league football action resumes.

Nevertheless, the title prospects of Azam FC cannot be ruled out as the team will resolutely seek to topple Simba from the apex of the standings once the league action gets underway again.

So, as we wait for the second part of local football’s top tier championship to kick-off, it is hoped that there will be goals galore and loads of absolutely cracking encounters once the Premier League gets up and running again.

Let us now revisit the weighty matter of our regular abysmal showings as a country at the multi-sport, quadrennial Olympic Games.

Dear Readers, I am positive that I must sound like a broken record to some of you after having commented on this consequential issue multiple times in the past.

That being said, this matter is of such import, especially when one recollects that our long-running medals drought at the Olympics has depressingly lasted since 1980.

Indeed, it is an incontestable fact that the chief reason for our disgraceful failure to claim even a minuscule single medal is our Eleventh-Hour preparations for the captivating sporting event that is the Olympics.

In addition, our gross ineptitude and shocking lax attitude regarding our Olympic preparations have unfortunately brought us to this nadir in our national sporting history.

So, the million-dollar question to be posed is: what can be feasibly done to correct this particular malaise which is negatively affecting local sports?

Well, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to come up with the answer to this crucial query.

Indeed, if we were to engage in four years-long preparations for the Olympic Games, then it is certain that we will witness dramatic improvement in our displays at the one-of-a-kind Summer Games.

Furthermore, there needs to be a sea change in our currently careless attitude because if we fail to display the required seriousness and diligence on this matter, then we can be pretty sure that our 45-year-old medals hoodoo will sadly continue.

To sum up, if we are indeed serious about improving our lowly status in the realm of sports, then we had better change our modus operandi where our Olympics preparations are concerned.