End of the road for TFF president?

Dar es Salaam. The arrest of Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) president Jamal Malinzi on suspicion of corruption has left his hopes of seeking reelection hanging by a thread.

This stems from the fact that aspirants who will not show up at the TFF offices for screening, which started on Thursday, would not be endorsed for the federation’s general election slated for August 12 in Dodoma.

The TFF election committee warned yesterday that the candidates who would not turn out for the three-day exercise, would be doing so at their own peril.

Malinzi and secretary general Celestine Mwesigwa were arrested by the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) on Tuesday for interrogation on alleged misuse of office and graft. He is among 73 football stakeholders eyeing various positions in the August 12 polls.

The TFF election committee chairman, Revocatus Kuuli, said those who will not attend the screening would be barred from contesting the election.

This means the incumbent TFF president, who was arraigned at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s court yesterday together with Geofrey “Kaburu” Nyange, will likely not contest the election.

Nyange, who is the vice chairman of Simba Sports Club, is vying for the TFF vice president position.

When contacted for comment on the matter, renowned sports leader Said El Maamry attributed the arrest of the top officials of the country’s football governing body to lack of transparency within the federation.

“Unlike in the past, football is now a big business. A number of companies are now investing in the sport,” the former honouray member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said.

“Leaders of football bodies should, therefore, be honest. They must refrain from misusing funds meant for football development if they are to succeed in turning around the country’s football fortunes,” he added.

To those contesting the polls, the former National Sports Council (NSC) chairman said elections were a constitutional mandate meant to champion order and a smooth transition of power and that they must remain so. “While the electioneering takes shape, it must not be lost on all those involved that football in Tanzania is more important than any individual,” he said.

The fate of the accused will be known on Monday when the case comes up for hearing.

Malinzi, once Young Africans secretary general, was elected the TFF president four years ago, succeeding Leodegar Tenga. In his first term, the national Under-17 soccer team, Serengeti Boys, qualifed for the 2017 Africa Youth Cup finals in Gabon, where they did not go beyond the group stage.

Considering that the election is quadrennial, it makes it more imperative that the delegates to the general assembly chose people who will not let Tanzanians down in four years, say a cross of soccer fans interviewed yesterday.

“After August 12 in Dodoma where the general meeting of TFF will be held, the sole winner should be football in the true sense of the word,” Baraka Elias, a keen football fan, said.