Dar es Salaam. A fierce standoff has erupted between Young Africans Sports Club (Yanga SC) and the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) over unpaid Federation Cup prize money, casting doubt over the upcoming final scheduled for June 28, 2025.
On June 10, Yanga SC issued a strongly worded public statement refuting TFF’s claims that the club owes money to the federation.
The club asserted that TFF has failed to remit any prize money for three consecutive seasons, 2021/2022, 2022/2023, and 2023/2024, despite Yanga being crowned champions in each of those campaigns.
“We would like to inform the public that Young Africans SC have never received any prize money from TFF,” the statement read.
“TFF has consistently withheld this prize money in their accounts at the end of each season without informing us, which is both improper and contrary to standard procedure.”
Yanga further stressed that there is no written proof showing that the federation disbursed the funds.
The club condemned TFF’s conduct as “shameful” and “dishonorable,” accusing it of undermining both the spirit of competition and its sponsors.
Yanga’s spokesperson, Ally Kamwe, escalated the situation by declaring that the club will boycott the 2024/2025 FA Cup final against Singida Black Stars if the outstanding dues are not paid.
“We have tolerated this disrespect from football authorities for far too long. This is the end. We will not play the match in Zanzibar unless we are paid our championship prize money from last season,” said Kamwe.
Following Yanga’s public threat, CRDB Bank, the official sponsor of the tournament—released a statement clarifying that it had already transferred Sh255 million to TFF in accordance with the terms of the sponsorship agreement.
“CRDB Bank would like to address the claims made by the Yanga spokesperson during the June 9 press conference,” the bank said.
“All payments for the previous season were made directly to TFF, as stipulated in our contract.”
Later, TFF responded through its Information manager, Clifford Ndimbo, confirming that the federation had indeed received the sponsorship funds.
He further explained that TFF, as the responsible authority, manages the disbursement process.
Ndimbo added that Yanga had formally instructed TFF to deduct certain amounts from their prize money to cover foreign player license fees and other related costs.
To resolve the matter, TFF invited Yanga’s accountant to attend a financial review meeting at their offices. However, a leaked internal letter from the club indicated that Yanga maintains TFF still owes them Sh226 million, suggesting the issue remains far from resolved.
