AfricaPress-Tanzania: A SECTION of members of parliament have called on the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) to award the Mainland Premier League title to runaway leaders and defending champions Simba SC.
However, other MPs said it will be a bit premature and unjustifiable to end the league at this stage and suggested that it will be better to wait and continue monitoring the situation.
The league was suspended last month with ten rounds of fixtures remaining due to the coronavirus pandemic that is ravaging the world.
The Reds remain key favourites to lift the trophy three times in a row with the existing 17 point gap against second-placed Azam FC, which is described by pundits as too big for the latter to bridge.
They sit top on 71 points from 28 matches and they need to win at least four next league matches to win the title this season.
On third slot are their traditional rivals Young Africans who have pocketed 51 points from 27 games, while debutants Namungo FC are positioned fourth with 50 points after 28 outings.
Coastal Union are placed fifth place on the table with 46 points after 28 encounters as the top flight league is still suspended to curb the massive spread of the Covid-19 until further notice.
With the current league suspended indefinitely as precaution measures against the deadly corona outbreak everything remains in limbo on what will be the fate of the league this season.
Debating the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports budget estimates and expenditures for the forthcoming fiscal year, the parliamentarians defended that it will be “a best decision” to declare Simba as the season champion.
Juma Nkamia (Chemba—CCM) told the National Assembly here given the circumstances and the preparations for the annual continental club football competitions this season declared over and Simba be declared winner and represent the country in CAF champions League next season.
He further said that Azam, who are second on the log and holders of the Azam Sports Federation Cup (ASFC) title, should be given chance to represent the country in CAF Confederation Cup next season.
“What I think, we should award the title to Simba and the remaining teams should wait the next season,” Nkamia noted.
However, his suggestion received opposition from Iramba West MP Mwigulu Nchemba (CCM), who otherwise suggested the title should be awarded to the team that won the last big match that was also graced by President John Magufuli.
Sengerema MP William Ngeleja (CCM) comes to the rescue rallying behind Nkamia’s opinion expanding further that Simba should be declared the champions because the gap on point was huge and only few matches are remaining for the league to conclude.
According to Ngeleja, for the past few years, Simba has made massive strides in the country’s football.
The drastic strides, he said contributed to improving the club’s rankings at the continental level.
“Simba is one of the top 20 football clubs in the continent. It has the largest fan base in the country and probably in East Africa and this must be well recognised,” he argued.
Similar arguments were made by Mafinga Urban MP, Cosatu Chumi (CCM) and Venance Mwamoto (Kilolo—CCM).
In Belgian’s Jupiler League, Club Brugge were recently crowned the champions after holding an unassailable 15 points lead with a game to go.
