AfricaPress-Tanzania: PRESIDENT John Magufuli yesterday said he is planning to let the league resume soon while insisting that so far, he has not heard of any sport person being highly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said this at a brief swearing in ceremony of Mwigulu Nchemba as the new Minister for Constitutional and Legal Affairs held in Chato, Geita Region.
“I am planning to let the league resume in the near future so that people can start playing and be watched on Television such that we just need to put in place good measures to facilitate that”.
“So far, I have not heard of any sports person being affected by the Coronavirus meaning that those who embrace sport activities are not easily attacked by the Covid-19 as such, if we ban them from partaking in sports, by implication, we want them to suffer from the Covid-19 disease,” Magufuli said.
He added that now, he is just waiting for his advisors to give him a way forward.
Tanzania Football Federation (TFF), suspended the Mainland Premier League, among other competitions, in mid-March when the government banned public gatherings.
“I understand, although people have been affected by corona, I am yet to see an athlete suffering from it. This shows that those who exercise regularly are not easily affected by the coronavirus.
“If we deny them [footballers] playing football, in essence, we are telling them to get coronavirus, by implications.
“It will reach a time soon, I am only waiting for a word from my health advisors, and then I will allow the league to resume.
“Covid-19 is a disease that will remain with us same way as TB and even AIDS and we must not stop our daily activities!”
The head of state went on to urge the citizens not to panic and also stated he will not put the major towns, including Dar es Salaam, under total lockdown as some leaders have insistently asked him to do so.
“I am telling Tanzanians not to panic at all as we are still at the elementary stage [of battling the Covid-19 pandemic]. Let us continue working so that wealth creation continues for the better,” explained the president.
“Let us not scare ourselves on this issue and the politicians need to stop making it a political agenda as that is not going to help at all.
“People are telling me to lockdown Dar es Salaam and Tanga, but I am saying ‘Not a day will I do that’. Tanzanians must work as we also take necessary precautions.”
The league was suspended with Simba leading with 71 points from 28 matches while Azam placed second ahead of the third-placed Yanga.
Recently, the Tanzania Premier League Board (TPLB), denounced claims which went viral on social media outlets that when the league resumes, all competing teams will descend to Dar es Salaam to finish the remaining matches.
Reached for comment, TPLB Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Almas Kasongo said he was not aware of such claims insisting that his body has never met to discuss on that development.
“As a board, we have never thought of that thing and even discussed the matter as such, it is not true and should not be believed.
“We continue to consider health of players and other people a priority of TPLB that is why immediately after the government announced to halt all sport activities, we blessed the move wholeheartedly,” Kasongo said.
He added that all the resolutions which were reached when the TPLB executive committee reached when they met in March this year remain in place and have not been changed.
“Since that meeting which was held in March, we have never had another one and through that, TPLB is not aware about the foundation of the claims to bring the teams in the city,” he said.
He mentioned some of the resolutions as enabling the league to unfold behind closed doors and those players, officials and few reporters who will be given access into the stadium will be tested for the Covid-19 before going inside.
