Simba, Yanga banned from N. Stadium

TRADITIONAL rivals Simba and Young Africans may forever miss the comfort of the imposing National Stadium as the government contemplates banning the teams from using the sports complex.

“These teams will not be allowed to use the National Stadium until further notice, if possible they may be banned forever,” Information, Culture, Arts and Sports Minister, Nape Nnauye, declared in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

The harsh government’s decision follows massive vandalism and destruction of properties in the stadium during the high tension match that pitted the two teams in Dar es Salaam on Saturday.

The destruction of 1,781 chairs and four gates has come as the stadium management considers fixing security cameras to monitor spectators, ably trace and take legal measures against individuals wrecking the infrastructure of the sports ground. Minister Nnauye, speaking to reporters yesterday, said President John Magufuli was real angry over the damage.

“The president called me yesterday (on Saturday) after the incident, saying he was saddened and wondered why fans should express their anger by destroying the infrastructure of the stadium.”

He said the bad behaviour of destroying the facilities was getting chronic because only the clubs were being punished. “From now onwards, we are going to install cameras to identify those involved in indecency,” he said.

The minister briefed journalists at the stadium shortly before assessing the magnitude of the damage, believed to have been done by Simba supporters at the match that attracted over 43,000 spectators, with at least 350m/- collected.

The cost of restoring the damaged infrastructure is yet to be established as, according to Nape, the evaluation of the loss was underway.

Acting Director for Sports Development in the ministry, Alex Nkenyenge, described it as “very unfortunate that people cannot protect the properties that were obtained through taxpayers’ money.”

He said, as custodian of the infrastructure, the ministry was deeply depressed by what happened on Saturday, with chairs at the side where Simba supporters seated being removed.

T h e f r a c a s emerged after Simba fans protested against Amis Tambwe’s goal. Referee Martin Saanya’s decision to award the goal sparked a storm of protests from Simba fans, who, ripped off chairs, threw them onto the runway, compelling the police to use tear gas to disburse the culprits and calm the situation.

The protests forced the game to stop for almost five minutes and Simba eventually suffered double blows, after they were reduced to 10 players after the team’s skipper, Jonas Mkude, was given the marching orders.

Police managed to restore order at the stadium and the game continued, ending in a 1-1 draw.