AfricaPress-Tanzania: AS the fixture is due to be released today, Simba SC Head Coach Sven Vandenbroeck said he can’t wait for their first match when the Mainland Premier League resumes on June 13th this year.
The Tanzania Premier League Board (TPLB), is today expected to release the fixtures for all three football league matches.
The leagues cleared to restart on June 13th this year are the Mainland Premier League, First Division League (FDL) and the Second Division League (SDL), respectively.
And, ahead of the restart, Simba’s Belgian tactician is eager to know which side they will face first, so he set his training programmes.
The reigning champions began training sessions on Wednesday at their Bunju Complex training facility in Dar es Salaam, as they seek to retain the title for third consecutive time.
So far, only three players–Francis Kahata (Kenya), Clatous Chama (Zambia) and Sharraf Shiboub (Sudan) are the faces missing in the Reds squad because of travel restrictions imposed in their respective countries due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking after a training programme on Friday, Vandenbroeck said he is just waiting to know the first date for them to be on the battlefield upon the restart of the league.
“It will be health to know the date of our first game so as to plan well since now, everything is in the thin air,” said the trainer, who is set to win his first silverware on Tanzania soil.
He added that the only setback so far in his squad is the sickness of attacker Rashid Juma, who is reportedly not feeling well, while all players are fit.
“We still miss Kahata, Chama and Shiboub but the later is having a serious case due to tough lockdown procedures in Sudan, while the other two may come back early next week,” he said.
Simba have already put it clear that they want to win two titles this season which are the top flight league and Azam Sports Federation Cup (ASFC).
The Msimbazi street based club continues to enjoy the pilot seat of the 20-team marathon with 71 points, 16 points clear from the second placed Azam FC who have attained 54 points after 28 games.
Apart from releasing the fixtures, TPLB is also lined up to announce various guidelines which will government the entire upcoming league including whether supporters will access the playing venues or not.
Recently, the board’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Almas Kasongo pointed out that they have been taking into consideration many things ever since the state announced to restart sports activities from June 1st.
“On Sunday (today), we will also update the public on the playing format of the leagues as to whether the usual home and away system will be applied or embrace the one proposed by the government of using Dar es Salaam and Mwanza as centers. We will also announce if supporters will be allowed or not,” Kasongo said.
He added that TPLB already wrote all teams which trade in the mentioned leagues to start training sessions hence he has no doubt that they are progressing well with their training programmes.
“We insist on the clubs to thoroughly observe all necessary precaution measures to avoid contacting the Covid-19 disease while doing their sport activities,” he said.
