FOR the country's football to reach the Promised Land, it needs to be governed by friendly regulations that enable the game to be staged smoothly and flawlessly.
The success of football is not only seen on the pitch as it also requires to be governed by good policies so as to accommodate well players and all those who are involved in it in one way or the other.
Yes, without transparent guidelines, nobody can ever think of seeing football standards in the country heading to the right direction thereby derailing the government's vision of transforming this important sector, which has potential to provide employment opportunities to many people.
A lot is being done to improve playing pitches in different parts of the country so as to enable the most loved sport on the globe unfold at friendly arenas...a credit to all those who are involved in implementing this good gesture bearing in mind that a good playing venue allows smooth flow of the ball which compels people to pay entry charges to watch the games.
The Tanzania Premier League Board (TPLB) which is mandated to oversee all football leagues in the country recently announced some amendments made by the Administrative Committee of Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) to the guidelines which safeguard the country's football.
One of the amended policy is article 9 (9:8) which is mainly centered on league hosting venues and states that after the club licensing committee re-opens a venue, which was initially suspended-will not be allowed to host any game until the elapse of 14 days.
This is one of the guidelines that many people believe will help a lot to ensure that league hosting arenas are of perfect standards and create a good environment for matches to be played conveniently.
Again, pundits have reacted positively to the amended article 11 (11:11) concerning trophies and awards which states that awards presentation ceremony should be conducted three days after the end of the season.
Stakeholders believe that this amendment will help a lot to make the ceremony become colourful bearing in mind that all those who have been voted to receive awards after an outstanding season will be readily available and grab their accords in person.
Previously, it was taking long time for the ceremony to be conducted and in such doing, those qualified to be awarded were being represented by others, a situation which was not satisfactory to many people hence they proposed changes to be made.
For instance, during the last season's awards presentation, almost half of those who qualified to be decorated sent their representatives and by that time, they had already gone for holiday break thereby affecting the beauty of the occasion.
Also, key players in football circles have cherished the amendment of article 16 (16:7) which demands Premier League clubs to have their own sponsors for the smooth running of general activities of the team.
Indeed, this is another important guideline for clubs to observe because there is no way they can operate well and stage required resistance if they are financially weak.
In order to compete well with big boys in the contest, it is not a hidden fact that a club should have flexible financial muscles and this can easily be achieved if they seek their own sponsors without entirely relying on the main sponsor of the league. However, it is encouraging to see that most premier league teams have private sponsor(s), this helps a lot to add value to the concerned sides since modern football needs a lot of serious investment to be made to clubs.
Again, football stakeholders have smiled to the amended article 62 which gives green light to clubs to sign a total of 12 foreign based players and feature them in one of their matches of either the Premier League or Azam Sports Federation Cup (ASFC).
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Initially before the adjustments, clubs were allowed to sign 12 foreign players from all corners of the world but only eight of them were permitted to be featured in a single match, while the rest were not parcel of the squad on the day.
Basing on these changes, it means a team can deploy 12 players from outside the country in one match without encountering problems since the renewed article gives them mandate to do just like that. Most football analysts believe that this amended article will play a big role in facilitating massive competition between domestic players and their foreign counterparts who will be battling to acquire playing time in their respective squads.
According to the Tanzania Premier League Board (TPLB) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Almasi Kasongo, the amendments have been implemented in order to improve efficiency of the league and that stakeholders were consulted to provide their opinions.
