AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE Tanzania Premier League Board (TPLB) said they are 100 per cent ready for the resumption of the Mainland Premier League, which gets underway today.
Four teams will be in action this afternoon in two different venues as Mwadui FC hosts Young Africans at CCM Kambarage Stadium in Shinyanga, whereas Coastal Union welcomes Namungo FC at Mkwakwani Stadium in Tanga.
The footwork action continues tomorrow as defending champions Simba SC welcomes Ruvu Shooting at the National Stadium, while Azam FC will be entertaining Mbao FC at Azam Complex in Dar es Salaam respectively.
In his briefing yesterday, the board’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Almas Kasongo said that all is set to keep the ball rolling.
“We have already put on the ground people, who manage games such as commissioners and referees. “We have also completed to provide awareness to people who will watch the games live at the stadia on procedures they need to follow to be safe from contacting the Covid-19 disease,” Kasongo said.
He added that the board has added a third eye to ensure that all remaining encounters unfold in a transparent manner without giving a room for match fixing scandals.
“We know that this period will be the most difficult than the previous ones that is why we are keen to monitor every move to avoid any malpractices,” he said.
Furthermore, Kasongo pointed out that football is a game, which is governed by 17 laws hence they have a task to make sure that the laws are adhered to.
“We want to use the remaining league matches as pilot on how we will be able to run the league next season since there are major transformations which are coming up,” he said.
He insisted that TPLB and all football fans expect to see smart decisions from referees and other match officials in all the remaining games of the league.
TPLB recently confirmed that they have paid referees and match officials, who will be involved to oversee all the remaining league matches of the season.
TPLB and the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) released almost 500m/- as payment for all referees in the country, who officiate the Mainland Premier League, First Division League (FDL) and Second Division League (SDL).
“As the board, we are well prepared to see that no irregularities are entertained in the upcoming matches in all the three leagues,” he said.
He added that anybody, who will affect the smooth flow of any of the matches, will attract serious punishment from the board as a lesson to others.
“I believe that referees, coordinators and commissioners have prepared well for the resumption of the leagues like we have done in order to make sure that the season ends,” narrated Kasongo.
Recently, Minister for Information, Culture, Arts and Sports Harrison Mwakyembe ordered TFF to ensure that they offset referees dues before the restart of the season.
