Kenya Football .:. Story - President Kikwete Tells Tanzania Football Federation To Wake Up

Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete has urged the Tanzania Football Federation(TFF) to wake up and pul up their socks. He attributed Tanzania football decline to TFF ineffectiveness saying they have no option but to wake up and play their role. Subsequently, (TFF) officials have admitted that there are weaknesses in running football matters in the country and promised to act on President Jakaya Kikwete’s challenge.

President Kikwete slammed the country football governing body, saying it was not doing enough to transform football standard in Tanzania. He made the statement over the weekend at a brief ceremony to welcome the FIFA World Cup Trophy, at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam.

According to Tanzania Daily News, The president told TFF that they should not remain solely as supervisors of football and national teams and instead, they should be central to the football success.

He also blamed the TFF leadership’s tendency of embracing fanaticism and a growing tradition of handling some clubs with ‘soft hands,’ just because they attract good revenues, citing it as one of the major let down to the football development in the country.

TFF General Secretary, Fredrick Mwakalebela, said yesterday that the president's speech was a 'wake up call.' He said they will soon meet to chart the way forward. Meanwhile, several Premier League Clubs have also promised to act on the president’schallenge, saying they will thrive to form strong youth teams, as a foundation for the strong national teams.

President Kikwete said that clubs must prepare strong teams, so as to help the country have a strong national team at all levels. He said the base of football is built at the club level and that national team coach, Marcio Maximo, cannot do it alone.

Yanga and African Lyon spokesmen Louis Sendeu and Hassan Mvula respectively, all hailed the president’s speech, saying that it highlighted the exact problems the country football was currently facing.

Mvula said Africa Lyon have already started to implement the youth programmes, starting with Under-20 team. However, he faulted TFF for poor organization, saying there was no much thrust directed towards staging the youth club championships.

Yanga’s Louis Sendeu urged the TFF to be serious on its youth programme, unlike now where there is laxity in age categories tournaments for clubs. Sendeu affirmed that Yanga have already started implementing the youth programmes, by preparing the Under-20 side which will be closely monitored by the team’s head coach Kostadin Papic.

Story-courtesy of Tanzania Daily News.