Dirty goals in the ugly game

Dar es Salaam. On March 27, 2016, the Azimio Stadium was packed by fans and players of Nyundo FC, watching the last match of the 2015/2016 Katavi regional league season pitting Kazima and Stand FC. 

Their hopes were high; their team will definitely be crowned the regional champion and henceforth a ticket for second division zonal league in Njombe region.

Thirteen goals advantage and 21 points gave them assurance that Stand who had 18 points could not beat Kazima more than 13 goals.

In their minds, Stand could only equal points but not goals. How wrong they were, till half time Stand were leading 8-0 with a sign of adding more goals, hopes were shuttered as some Nyundo fans and players including team captain Gregory Lucas left the stadium.

“When I entered the stadium, Stand were leading 2-0, before I witnessed six more goals that bored me, I felt I should better go home,’’ said Gregory who could not be surprised when told that Stand added eight more goals to reach 16-0.

Andrew Joseph, the goalkeeper of Kazima, who conceded eight goals and demanded to be substituted, claimed to have no idea of a dirty game but was interrogated three times by the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB).

“At first I was telling my team-mates to work hard but it couldn’t help, we were conceding more goals, that is when I decided I should not play in the second half,’’ said Joseph when talking to this reporter at the Deluxe Hotel in Katavi town.

Ismail Mwakwere, secretary general of Kazima FC denied having knowledge of his team being given money, though he admit that in the evening before rumors circulated among players that a key member in their technical bench had been given money by Stand.

“Our players were planning not to play, we managed to convince them but they went to play for the sake of playing, to me that is the reason why we conceded many goals, the morale was down,’’ said Mwakwere who is also a football coach by profession.

When asked why the head coach, Galeba Lazaro, was not on the bench, Mwakwere replied he was equally surprised: “I asked but the excuse I got from him is that he had stomach upset, so I had to be the team coach.

For his part, Lazaro declined to comment anything further, only saying: “Sorry, I have nothing to say as it was a very long time. So, why are you asking me now?” He even did not pick his phone when contacted three times later.

Gilbert Kaswiza, who is the chairman and custodian of Stand, denied using money to influence results, though he admited that there were those allegations.

“I was not in the stadium during the match, though I am aware of those allegations and maybe there are people in our team who got involved. However, it is hard for me to prove because in football there is no regulation that limits the number of goals. You can score even 50 goals,” Said Kaswiza.

One football fan in Katavi said that the match was played to help Stand win the regional title and to accomplish the mission, Sh300,000 (about $ 135) was offered.

“I know what happened that evening before the match, I was also there during the match, you don’t need to be a professional or experienced footballer to know that it was fixed, first of all they played a bad game and the way Kazima conceded goals tells everything,’’ said the fan who preferred anonymity.

Moshi Dede, Chairman of Nyundo said they were all disappointed as some members of the team vowed to financially stop supporting the team. “This team belongs to carpenters and that is where the name Nyundo (Hammer) comes from, they support it with their little income but when heard of 16 goals they all felt cheated, this shows how match- fixing can discourage fans who love football at heart,’’ said Dede.

Dede thanks the Katavi Regional Football Association (KRFA) for nullifying Stand-Kazima results and finally Nyundo were crowned as the regional champions, something that restored hope to the carpenters. KRFA also banned Stand and Kazima from football for three years and each team was fined Sh1 million (about $ 450).

David Vianey, Secretary General of KRFA said the problem of match-fixing was widespread in lower leagues. “I know it came to your attention because of those 16 goals. Had the goal difference between Nyundo and Stand been one or two, you wouldn’t have noticed it as they could have easily achieved their dirty mission.”

Vianey added that when people had the courage of scoring 16 goals it would tell two things, first how big the problem is and second people don’t fear.  

In the same season, the First Division League (FDL) was also marred by match fixing scandal, African Lyon and Ruvu Shooting from groups A and B qualified for 2016/17 Vodacom Premier League (VPL), the country’s top league, the battle was on group C, it was either Geita Gold or Polisi Tabora, each team had 30 points and 15 goals and one match in hand.

What happened is that, Geita beat JKT Kanembwa 8-0 while Polisi Tabora beat Oljoro JKT 7-0 hence Geita qualified on goal advantage. During Geita-Kanembwa match, Geita goalkeeper Denis Richard complained of stomach upset, the referee allowed him to go to the toilet and the match was stopped for about ten minutes while Polisi and Oljoro match had numerous play-stops.

Rumors of match fixing started circulating as some fans even questioned if Richard had really stomach upset and others were surprised by the play-stops.

They considered both incidents as delaying tactics as each team wanted to know match results of their opponents so that they could decide on the number of goals they needed to score.

The Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) suspended all the group C results and Mbao FC was promoted to VPL while Geita, Kanembwa, Polisi Tabora and Oljoro were demoted to regional leagues for match fixing.

On top of that, the chairman of the Tabora Regional Football Association (Tarefa), Yusuph Kitumbo, his secretary, Fateh Remtullah, chairman of Oljoro JKT, Amos Mwita, the referee of JKT Kanembwa- Geita match, Salehe Nang’ola and the match commissioner, Moshi Juma were all handed a life ban on all football-related activities. The life ban also went to assistant coaches Bernard Fabian of Polisi Tabora and Choki Abeid of Geita.

Goalkeepers; Richard of Geita and Mohammed Mohammed of Kanembwa JKT were banned for ten years and finedTsh 10 million (about $ 4,400), the same punishment went to the referees of Polisi Tabora-Oljoro JKT match, Masoud Mkeremi and his assistants, Hamisi Machunde.

However, they all appealed and last year TFF lifted ban on Abeid and Richard because of lack of sufficient evidence.

When asked about match fixing in Tanzania, then TFF president, Jamal Malinzi admitted that the problem was still there: “It is true that the problem is still there, not only in Tanzania, but all over the world.

“However, some actions are being taken as some people have been banned for life and others have been fine. This shows how serious we are.” 

Match fixing has long history in Tanzania. In 1984, the Mbeya Regional Football Association (MRFA) had to nullify Kurugenzi FC, Biashara results after it was discovered that Kurugenzi deliberately lost 10-0 to Biashara in a bid to halt their arch rival Tukuyu Stars from winning the second division regional title and helped Biashara who could became the champion with goal advantage. 

MRFA also banned Kurugenzi for one year and Tukuyu was crowned the regional champions who qualified for zonal league in Shinyanga in which they won and qualified for the first division league, Tanzania’s top league in 1985 and went on to make history in 1986 when they won the title.

Godwin Aswile, a former dependable libero of Tukuyu, who later signed for Tanzania’s giants, Yanga and Simba, is still considered to be one of the best central defenders to have ever played in the country’s top league and the national team; he recalls how MRFA decision changed his football life.

“Without MRFA,Tukuyu could not have qualified for the top league and won the title of the same league. I was signed by Yanga, Simba and selected in the national team because I was in the top league,’’ said Aswile, who was nicknamed Scania because of his hard tacklings.

A match fixing scandal was also reported in 1987, this time in the top league involving Simba and Biashara Mwanza who were facing relegation. Each team had 16 points with one match in hand, Simba in the eighth place with a goal advantage and Biashara in the ninth, Reli at the bottom with ten points. It was between Simba and Biashara, who was to be demoted to the lower league with Reli?

In their last matches, Biashara beat RTC Kigoma 5-2 while Simba managed a 5-5 draw with Tukuyu. However, all the results were nullified by the then minister for sports, Fatma Said Ally. This meant that Simba escaped relegation with a goal advantage while Biashara had to join Reli on the demotion list.

It was later revealed that the RTC Kigoma-Biashara match was fixed to help Biashara, same with Tukuyu and Simba. One former Tukuyu player revealed to this reporter that they were given Tsh 100,000 (about $ 45) to help Simba avoid relegation. “I still remember, we were 20 and each of us pocketed Sh 5,000, it was a lot of money by that time, the money was brought to us by two senior players of Simba.”

Veteran coach Abdallah Kibadeni had once blamed TFF for not taking seriously about match fixing and bribery allegations in premier league matches but he only ended up being interrogated by PCCB. Though PCCB confirmed to have interrogated different people in relation to match fixing but refused to reveal names.

“Our football is marred by match fixing, I have been saying this many times and if actions are not taken, football will never developed, if players are given money to play below standard we will end up having a top scorer who is not the best,’’ said Kibadeni who has coached different premier league clubs and the national team.

Jamal Rwambow, a retired regional police commander and former member of the national sports council, who hardly missed a weekend match at the national stadium, said in any development plan dirty things should not be entertained.

“Even in football if we let match fixing to flourish, there will be no development,” said Rwambow.

Speaking about match fixing, Amir Mhando, Secretary General of the Tanzania Sports Writers Association (Taswa) said it is the responsibility of sports journalists in Tanzania to help fight match fixing,

“By doing so we maintain our professional integrity and help develop the most loved game in the country, money should be used to support football development programs not to influence results.

“Our newspapers, radio stations, TVs, social medias are occupied most by football stories, if we allow match fixing to flourish, fans will be discouraged, meaning football will no longer be the number one loved game, you can imagine sports journalism in Tanzania without football, is it not the death of journalism itself?” asked Mhando.

 In their book entitled the ‘Ugly Game’, Heidi Blake and Jonathan Calvert painted a ball with dollars and euros; I have painted mine with shillings, the currency that is used to influence football match results in Tanzania.