|
|
Tanzania: TFF in Huge Loss As It Pours!
 |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
27 March 2008
Posted to the web 27 March 2008
Majuto Omary
Soccer fans may have been gripped with mixed emotions of fury, depression and betrayal at the unavoidable cancellation of the highly anticipated international friendly between our very own Taifa Stars and Mozambique's Mambas yesterday.
But it is the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) that will live to rue the day when a heavy down pour ruled, drenched the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam and rendered it practically impossible to go ahead with the crucial match.
Of course it never rains but pours, and yesterday it was exactly that, but moreso for TFF that will have to face the reality of a huge double loss.
The country's soccer governing body incurred an undisclosed, but apparently huge loss running into millions of shillings as a result of the cancellation, the second this year following the other forgettable aborted friendly against Malawi just last month.
Yesterday several expectant soccer fans were trapped indoors by the torrential rains that coincidentally started about midday, saved their shillings but deprived TFF of millions in gate intakes.
And at the stadium the entire astra-turf pitch was flooded, thanks to the poor drainage system.
The TFF had also footed return air tickets and accommodation bills for the visitors' contingent of 20 players and officials. The total amount could not be immediately established, and TFF secretary general Fredrick Mwakalebela said it was too early for him to provide the finer details of the loss.
"We cannot exactly establish the actual loss we have incurred but so far more than $ 30,000 has been spent to host the Mozambique team, and for other additional expenses," said Mwakalebela.
"And some of the Mozambican team players cannot check out early due to their flight reservations, further escalating the cost."
Other major costs incurred by the soccer body include printing of entry tickets- most of which were never used, per diem and accommodation allowances for Taifa Stars players and officials plus camping expenses for the tie that never was.
Apart from this, in the spirit of responsibility, TFF had gone an extra mile, digging deeper into its pocket to ensure that seven Yanga players who were in Libya on club duty, were flown back home early enough for the aborted match.
|
TFF will also have to refund fans, who had bought advance tickets, and Mwakalebela has already assured the fans they would get their money back as long as they kept their tickets for evidence.
And the match could not be rescheduled for today, tomorrow or weekend since most of the visiting players have already left for their respective professional clubs in and outside Africa.
"It is a blow for all of us, and moreso for TFF which has been trying to organise these international friendlies hoping to prepare the national team for 2010, and raise Taifa's Fifa world ranking," Mwakalebela summed it all.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 The Citizen. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
