THE imminent departure of incumbent TFF President Leodegar Tenga, should not spell doom to plans to boost soccer in the country. It should instead open new avenues for further development.

Tenga announced on Monday that he doesn't intend to run for a third term. This came in the wake of speculations that Tenga, who has served the federation for the past two terms of four years each, would run again during the February 24 election.

A former ace defender and Taifa Stars player, Tenga has indeed made a good decision. His exit, graceful one at that, will allow a new leader with fresh ideas to assume TFF leadership and deliver the required goods. It is an undeniable fact that the football standard in Tanzania has taken a nose dive during the last three decades.

This fall has been attributed to bad leadership. On assuming office, Tenga made it his agenda to address the shortcomings. Tenga did exactly that. He worked hard to raise the standard of the game in the country.

He has managed to build an institution, set up a clear system of operation and ensure a smooth passage towards a new constitution. However, there is another side of the coin, where Tenga's leadership has failed and it is from this where we think the coming leadership should take a note and make an effort to improve our standard of soccer, which has been on a steady decline mode.

As one example, youth football is among the areas that the previous soccer administrations failed to adequately address. For the past few days we have witnessed individuals picking nomination forms to replace Tenga at the helm of the country's soccer governing body.

We think it is time those who are eying the post to be aware of where Tanzanian had missed the sign post during the last couple of years. Tanzania faces serious challenges in its soccer area. The country thus needs strong individuals with resolve and who are blessed with leadership qualities to take our football to new and elevated prosperity heights.

It is everyone's hope that those who will be elected should realise the magnitude of the challenges we face and therefore seize the opportunity to engage in a healthy debate and come up with solutions to our soccer woes.