The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Suleiman Jongo
26 August 2008
Efforts are underway to revamp some sports categories that have been dormant over time, the National Sports Council (NSC) secretary general, Leonard Thadeo, has said.
He said plans are underway to revive games that would earn Tanzania mileage at international stage especially, Olympics and Commonwealth Games.
Thadeo was reacting to recent dismal performance of the Tanzania Olympiads in Beijing where the team ended the two-week tour empty handed.
Tanzania was represented by eight athletes and swimming duo who all floped beyond anticipation.
Lack of sufficient funds, poor leadership proficiency and down-to-earth commitment, have been cited as major reasons behind the poor performance at the Games.
Thadeo said the challenge ahead is to send a big contingent of sportsmen and women who would feature in many sporting events to extend the horizon for medals haul.
According to Thadeo, the council has already met officials from various sports bodies on the Mainland and Zanzibar to deliberate on the new sporting proposals.
He said another meeting would be convened in the future in an efforts to secure lasting solution to the challenges.Thadeo has often insisted that lack of sufficient funds to train the athletes is the main bottleneck.
He said sporting events in the likes of volleyball, shooting, badminton and basketball, are running short of funds to meet qualifying berths.
The dormant sporting events include and others just to mention but a few. Only Filbert Bayi and Suleiman Nyambui managed to return home with silver medals for the first and last time in 1980 Moscow Olympics.
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