AfricaPress-Tanzania: Government has called upon all flag carrier sport disciplines to stop pitching camps a few days before the start of major competitions saying the secret to excel is ample preparation.
This was said recently in the city by the Minister for Information, Culture, Arts and Sports Innocent Bashungwa as he gave the government’s position towards enhancing sports in the country.
“I always insist that there are three factors which propel victory in sports. The first is training, the second is training and the third one is training as such, I have prohibited the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) and other concerned sectors the tendency to send national teams to camp very late. “They need to pitch camps early for them to have enough time to prepare before they head to the battlefield,” said Bashungwa who also seized the opportunity to laud Taifa Stars for the good job they did during their group stage games in Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) finals unfolding in Cameroon.
“We all desired to see our team stepping into the quarterfinals of CHAN but, even at the stage where they reached, they deserve congratulations for putting up a spirited fight during the matches.
“Before the team went to Cameroon, we had a friendly game against DR Congo of which the latter were a bit better than us but we informed Tanzanians that government will take care of all flag carrier sport disciplines so as to avoid embracing defeats due to lack of support.
“I keenly followed the progress of Taifa Stars in Cameroon and they were improving game after game something which is pleasing to see. Even the game against Guinea, our boys fought hard to produce tangible results but things went against their plans,” he noted.
He further pointed out that other things which transpired during the matches are just a lesson for the team prior to their next international contests.
Again, the minister narrated that they plan to invest a lot in youth national teams for them to have full backing off the state whenever they go for major competitions in order to succeed.
“We must ensure that the junior teams (Under-20, Under-17) are exposed to adequate training sessions and are kept well all the time for the sake of building them to prosper in big contests,” Bashungwa said.
In another development, he urged Tanzanians to be patriotic to their national teams when they cross borders to fly high the country’s colours.
“Development of sports in the country is achieved by any team which earns a chance to compete in big competitions. In this case, we need to give full support to both Simba and Namungo who are representing our nation in CAF-organised matches.
“As such, let me request Tanzanians to always rally behind their teams when they qualify to compete on international stage because they carry the national status hence, when they shine, it becomes the reputation of the whole country,” he said.
