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.
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