Author: BENJAMIN BEN
AfricaPress-Tanzania: TANZANIA Football Federation (TFF), has unveiled six officials who will be in charge of the today’s clash between Simba and Young Africans at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam.
They are Abubakar Mturo (Dar es Salaam), Abdallah Mwinyimkuu (Singida), Nadeem Aloyce (Dar es Salaam), Ramadhan Kayoko (Dar es Salaam), Frank Komba (Dar es Salaam) and Kassim Mpanga (Dar es Salaam) while Ally Katolila also from Dar es Salaam will serve as the match commissioner.
The two teams will battle it up in the semi-finals of the Azam Sports Federation Cup (ASFC), whose winner will earn a ticket of playing in the finals scheduled at Nelson Mandela Stadium in Sumbawanga.
Meanwhile, the government announced that only 30,000 fans will be allowed to access the National Stadium to witness live the traditional derby match between Simba and Young Africans today.
This was disclosed by the Director of Sports in the Ministry for Information, Culture, Arts and Spots Yusuph Singo said the decision to let half of the supporters attend the game was reached as a means to curb further spread of Covid-19.
“The Covid-19 is not completely eradicated in the country that is why we still need to take precautions hence 30,000 is a good number during this period. “Those who will not have tickets should just remain at their homes and watch the game via Television since we will not allow people to congregate outside the venue and we will have enough security personnel to facilitate that,” Singo said.
Asked how they will ensure that the proposed number of supporters is properly checked to avoid exceeding, Singo said they have increased a bit entry charges and that tickets will start to be sold today.
According to him, VIP A, B and C will be accessed by 30,000/-, 25,000/-and 20,000/- respectively while those who will occupy ordinary seats will pay 10,000/-.
He also narrated that the contract which government had with Selcom to sell tickets is over such that the exercise of selling them will be done by Kinondoni Municipal Council.
“We hope that the Covid-19 pandemic will end soon such that normal attendance of big matches will resume,” he said.
On his part, Simba SC Information Officer, Haji Manara said pressure is with Yanga since if they lose, they will not play in the CAF Confederation Cup next season.
“They will play to win the match and we will play to revenge for the poor results we have posted against them this season and here is where the toughness of the game is,” he said.
He added that they have already talked with their players to fight hard for the victory insisting that real celebrations comes when a team triumphs in derby games.
Also, Yanga Mobilisation Officer, Antonio Nugaz said they are aware that this is the only chance for them to play in the international contest next season hence players are mentally fit for the match.
“As you know, we are always stable in derby games especially considering the fact that this is the last opportunity for us this season to feature in international battles but the squad is ready,” he said.
