The Tanzania Premier League (TPL) board has dismissed Mainland champions Young Africans’ request to have their match against Mbeya City re-played.
TFF Information Officer Boniface Wambura
The board’s interim chairman, Wallace
Karia, said in Dar es Salaam that there is no rule or regulation in the
Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) statutes that allows a replay of a
league match.
He said if the problem concerns
indiscipline and unsporting behaviour then Yanga should submit their
grievances to the TFF Disciplinary Committee and the match referee and
commissioner should be specific in their reports so that appropriate
action can be taken against the culprits by the relevant body.
TFF Information Officer Boniface Wambura
was not in a position to comment on the matter yesterday but promised
to do so today. Yanga have lodged an appeal to TFF demanding their match
against Mbeya City which ended in a one-all draw at the Sokoine
Memorial Stadium in Mbeya on Saturday to be re-played at a neutral venue
following attacks on their players.
The defending champions have also asked
the TFF to shift their tomorrow’s match against Mbeya’s Prisons from the
Sokoine Stadium to another venue. Kenyan Patrick Naggi, a member of
Yanga’s secretariat, told reporters in Mbeya that they played Saturday’s
match under protest.
“Following violence against our team
that started shortly after we entered the venue, we felt it was wise to
contact the match referee and commissioner and lodge an application to
play the match under protest … all procedures were followed.
“After the match, violence continued and
we decided to lodge an appeal to request the match to be re-played at a
neutral venue.” Reports from Mbeya have it that a bus carrying Yanga
players was stoned by fans believed to be of Mbeya City in which a
window was broken and the driver injured.
Naggi said they have enough evidence on
violence against their team, which unsettled and instilled fear on the
players, who ended playing below par. He further noted that the players
were forced to remove their jerseys after the game to protect
themselves.
The club’s information officer Baraka
Kizuguto claimed that soon after arriving in Mbeya they tried to contact
the Mbeya Regional Football Association (MREFA) leadership to enquire
about various issues, including their safety, but they could not get any
assistance. He said after what happened on Saturday Yanga are worried
and have no confidence to play their next game in Mbeya against Prisons.
“We’ve requested the TFF to shift the
match to a neutral ground,” Kizuguto said. He also complained against
match referee Andrew Shamba from Coast Region for denying their team a
“clear goal” by Didier Kavumbagu.
Meanwhile, the Mbeya Regional Police
Commander, Diwani Athuman, has urged soccer fans to do away with unruly
behaviour during matches being played at the Sokoine Memorial Stadium.
He warned that persistent hooliganism will force the TFF to shift the
matches from the stadium to other venues and if that happens, Mbeya
residents will be deprived of entertainment provided by good football.
“Skirmishes that happened on Saturday
when football fans attacked a car carrying Yanga officials and another
transporting the players are uncalled for and can not be tolerated,”
Athuman said. He called on Mbeya residents to identify and report to the
police all those who misbehave during matches so that stern action can
be taken against them.
Source Tanzania Daily News
