AfricaPress-Tanzania: TANZANIA Football Federation (TFF) has announced that Confederation of African Football (CAF) has allowed only 10, 000 fans to attend tomorrow’s CAF Champions League Group A’s match between Simba SC and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) giants, AS Vita Club, at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam.
The two giants meet tomorrow in a clash either team need to win to reach the last eight of CAF Champions League.
Simba are leading Group A with 10 points whilst AS Vita Club is placed third with four points.
Information posted by TFF on the federation’s social media pages yesterday said that CAF has allowed 10,000 fans to attend the game.
“Following our request to CAF to allow fans to attend the game between Simba SC and AS Vita Club, only 10,000 fans have been allowed,” the federation said.
However, as we went to press, there was no immediate comment from either Simba SC or TFF on which mechanism will be used to count the supporters, who will enter the venue, and prices of tickets for watching the game.
The development is a big boost to Simba who need a point to reach the last eight of Africa’s premier club football tournament.
The last time Simba SC played without the side’s vocal and cheerful supporters in CAF Champions League at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium was last month when they beat Al Merreikh of Sudan 3-0.
The CAF banned fans from attending the game due to alleged violation of Coronavirus guidelines by Simba.
Simba, as it is the case for any other team, depend on the vocal support from their enthusiasts. The outfit always regards its supporters as number 12 player.
After the COVID-19 outbreak late last year, CAF banned all football activities in the continent.
The CAF, nevertheless, later directed that soccer activities should resume after the confederation’s Medical Committee, in collaboration with the Technical & Development Department and a team of experts, had put together a comprehensive plan to guide the Member Associations (MA’s) on the restart of football activities on the continent.
The confederation released its report titled ‘CAF Guidelines to Resume Football in Africa’ emphasizes on the health of the major stakeholders (players, officials, pans and partners) as the essential element, which should constitute the basis of all decisions regarding the reintroduction of football activities across the continent supported by the authorization of relevant State Authorities.
The plan also highlights effective and continuous medical assessment (testing) of players and officials, guidelines for training sessions, disinfection of sporting facilities, as well as strict adherence to the global preventive protocols.
The CAF noted: “This comprehensive document is a major step towards resuming football on the continent. Based on recent developments, it is important we have a plan in place to guide our stakeholders on the return of continental and domestic competitions, and the need for an all hands on deck approach.”
The confederation stated: “Many considerations were factored into the putting together of the document by our team of experts notably the specificities of the continent.”
”Together with strategies established by local authorities, it provides the MA’s with adequate information to resume operations upon receiving the green light,” the confederation added.
Meanwhile, some of Tanzania’s football analysts have warned Simba SC to opt out of entertaining complacency when the squad meets AS Vita Club in the clash, which is a must win for both sides.
Simba just need a draw to book a place in CAF Champions League’s last eight.
Soccer analyst Michael Msemakweli said Simba SC should look for a win, not a draw, in tomorrow’s tie.
He said Simba’s head coach, Didier Gomes, should not prepare the team to either sit back or retreat since the squads, in the end, needs the goals in order to chalk a win.
“The team need to deploy an offensive approach since AS Vita will be looking for a win at any cost,” he said.
