Tanzania representatives in Caf Cup advised to recruit best players

Dar es Salaam. Four clubs to represent Tanzania in Africa’s continental club championships have been urged to recruit the players that will take the teams to the next level.

The call was made by Tanzania Premier League Board (TPLB) chairman Steven Mguto in his interview with The Citizen yesterday.

Tanzania Mainland will be represented by Young Africans (Yanga) and Simba in the CAF Champions League, while Azam FC and Singida Big Stars will compete in the CAF Confederation Cup.

Mguto said that it is an open fact that coaches and club leaders have seen the level of the players who are normally featured in the continental club championships and are required to avoid recruiting players who will not fit for the competition.

He said that TPLB and the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) would like to see all four teams qualify for the finals of the competition and continue to promote the name of the country outside its borders.

"We have witnessed Yanga qualifying for the final of the Confederation Cup.It was inches for Yanga to win the title, but due to the away-game advantage rule, Yanga missed the title. What has been done by Yanga should be taken as a pathway for all teams toward the next season.We have a strong league that is among the top 10 in Africa; we need to prove that for our teams to do well in the CAF competitions," said Mguto.

He said teams have to avoid recruiting players who are not potential in both local and international competition, and by doing so, they waste money.

"We are reading through newspapers and other media outlets on how the teams conduct their players for the next season. They have to be very keen on conducting the exercise and have to focus on useful players and not on those who are not fruitful," he added.

So far various teams have announced the names of the players who will not be part of their respective clubs in the next Mainland Tanzania League season. Yanga have so far dropped Bernard Morrison, Eric Johora, Abdallah Shaibu alias Ninja, Dickson Ambundo, Tuisila Kisinda while Simba have dropped Mohammed Ouattara, Victor Akpan, Augistine Okrah, Nelson Okwa, Jonas Mkude, Beno Kakolanya, Gadiel Michael and Erasto Nyoni. Azam FC also also dropped various players while announcing new players. ahead of next league season.