THE Mainland Premier League match between Young Africans and Tanzania Prisons has been shifted from a damaged Sokoine Stadium in Mbeya to Samora venue in the neighbouring Iringa region.
The Tanzania Football Federation (TFF), on Thursday confirmed that Sokoine Stadium has been banned from hosting league matches until further notice as the pitch is unplayable.
It comes after the venue hosted a free music concert on Christmas Day (December 25th), by the renowned Bongo Flava megastar Nasibu Abdul Juma (Diamond Platnumz) and his compatriot Raymond Shaban Mwakyusa (Rayvanny) which led the playing field to be heavily packed by the audience.
Speaking to the ‘Daily News’ in an exclusive interview, TFF Media and Communication Officer, Clifford Ndimbo said the closure of the Stadium is for all the league matches which are Mainland Premier League, First Division League (FDL) and Second Division League (SDL) respectively.
“It is true that the venue has been closed and teams which were expected to use the venue for league games should look for alternative venues,” Ndimbo said.
He further said TFF will give more information about the closure of the stadium in a few days to come.
Elaborating more on the issue, Sokoine Stadium Manager, Modestus Mwaluka said it was impossible for them to control the crowd bearing in mind that it was a free concert.
“Security organs were overpowered to control the big number of people who descended at the venue. This has made the pitch to be covered by mud such that it will take some time to clean it for games to be played,” he said.
Yanga were looking to complete their Southern Highland point hunt mission this afternoon before returning back to Dar es Salaam to continue preparation for their upcoming league matches including the looming traditional derby against Simba SC slated on January 4th next year at the National Stadium in the city.
However, Yanga saw their search for possible six points in Mbeya Region suffer a blow after being held to a scoreless draw by Mbeya City on Tuesday in a match which was played on a waterlogged arena.
The Jangwani based club currently sit 8th on the table from nine games with 18 points.
They still have an opportunity to climb further into the top spots of the table.
Meanwhile, a reliable source at Yanga said the club has finalized paying signing fee to their players and that they have also paid this month’s salaries a thing he said will help to add morale to the players.
Also, he disclosed that there is a big possibility for the team to pitch a camp in Zanzibar ahead of their derby match early next year.
