THE Mainland Premier League giants and possibly one of the country's oldest club, Young Africans, has incurred a 74.2m/- loss for the past three months, a club financial statement issued this week reveals.

Though the club announced losses but still this remains as a milestone in the country's soccer history for a club to issue to the general public its financial statement.

To say the least, Yanga leaders deserve a pat on their back, because this will definitely mark a new beginning in terms of transparency and professionalism in running our clubs.

It has always been difficult for clubs and even sports associations in Tanzania to make public their financial statements because in most cases, leaders are involved in misuse, mismanagement and embezzlement of funds.

They (leaders) tend to forget that it is important, every year, as with other businesses, clubs must pull together their financial statements, which tell the club, or at least, its members whether it's losing money, breaking even, or making a profit.

Yanga's financial statement shows that from mid July to mid October this year the club income was 1.042bn/- that was fetched from various sources including grants, gate collections, sponsorship, trade mark licensing, prize money and member registration fee.

Ironically, the statement shows zero income from broadcasting rights and not a single penny was collected from rent and merchandising in the specified period. Another shortfall was that the club total expenditure stands at 1.12bn/- during the period under review, where most of the expenses were unapproved and a debt provision which has no information of its existence.

This tells us of fraudsters, and action against offenders is a must here. Regardless, Yanga have shown the way for other clubs and sports associations to follow. And, as a practical matter, we believe that at least a quarterly statement of revenues and expenses, compared to budget, should be published by all clubs and sports associations in the country.

A balance sheet statement of financial position should also be published as well as annual operating and capital budgets for the members to know the financial position of their clubs and associations.