AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE government has expressed its satisfaction with the implementation of the public health guidelines by football fans who are watching live the unfolding league matches.
The Mainland Premier League was officially flagged off in the country on June 13th to complete the season which will help to know the winners of respective league competitions.
However, giving his reaction after witnessing the already staged games, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Information, Culture, Arts and Sports Hassan Abbas said so far everything is fine after keenly observing the implementation of health guidelines in the various venues.
“First of all, we should thank President John Magufuli for letting sport activities resume since many countries are yet to resume sports activities and Tanzania has done well so far.
“The second thing we should cherish is his authorisation to allow supporters to watch live the games at stadiums while taking into consideration all precaution measures to avoid further spread of Covid-19,” Abbas said.
He added that from the games he has watched, the level of fitness among players is slowly coming back as they spent long time without playing competitive football.
“The bottom line here is that I together with many people out there are totally delighted to see that sports is back and we just need to continue taking into consideration the major measures to curb Covid-19.
“People should ensure that they wash their hands before going into the stadium using running water, they should use sanitisers if possible, wear masks, have temperature test and create a one meter distance with each other once inside the venue,” said him.
On his part, Director of Sports in the Ministry for Information, Culture, Arts and Sports Yusuph Singo said there are minor weaknesses made by people who are watching the games live.
“Whenever a goal has been scored, some people are breaking the laws as they celebrate in groups but I am sure that they will get used to it.
“Most of the guidelines like wearing masks and washing hands are being respected without problems but as government, our task is to continue creating awareness to people on what they should do to avoid the spread of Covid-19,” he said.
In the same token, the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF), president Wallace Karia also gave kudos to football fans for embracing well the health measures when watching games at the stadium.
“I have seen that people are respecting the one meter distance policy when inside the stadium but as you know, when the vibe gets high, some of them are breaking the policy but that is what football is all about,” Karia said.
