NBC League relegation battle as 10 teams fight to survive
Geita Gold FC players train ahead of their remaining Mainland Tanzania Premier League matches. PHOTO | MICHAEL MATEMANGA
What you need to know:
- So far two teams are in most danger of being demoted to the Championship League while two others are in danger of featuring in relegation playoffs
Dar es Salaam. The NBC Premier League relegation battle looks set to be the most exciting as 10 teams are now fighting to survive.
So far two teams are in most danger of being demoted to the Championship League while two others are in danger of featuring in relegation playoffs.
The teams that are in the relegation zone are Ruvu Shooting FC, who are placed at the bottom of the league table with 20 points and Polisi Tanzania, who are second from the bottom with 22 points.
The teams that are in the position of featuring in the relegation playoffs are KMC, who are placed 14th with 26 points and Mbeya City, who are in the 13th position with 27 points.
All the teams in the league have played 27 matches and remained with three matches to finish the league. As per the league rules and regulations, two bottom-placed teams (16th and 15th) will directly be demoted to the Championship League (formerly the First Division).
Arithmetically, all the four bottom placed teams have the chance of avoiding the current situation if they are to win all of their three remaining matches.
However, Ruvu Shooting and Polisi Tanzania seem to have tough fixtures in order to avoid being directly demoted.
Ruvu Shooting will have to record victories over Simba, who are still in the race for the title, and over Singida Big Stars, who are battling against Azam FC for the third place, they will also have to win over Dodoma Jiji FC, who are also in danger of being relegated.
Polisi Tanzania, who also seem to be on the ‘rough’ road of relegation from the top flight, will have to win over Mtibwa Sugar, Simba and Azam FC, whereby all their opponents also target victories in their remaining matches in order to improve their chances in the league standings.
KMC and Mbeya City also will have to fight hard in order to avoid featuring in the relegation playoffs against third and fourth placed teams in the Championship.
KMC will have to win over Singida Big Stars, Tanzania Prisons and Mbeya City.
Apart from playing against KMC, Mbeya City will also meet Geita FC and Yanga at the end of the league.
