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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has allowed envoys from Tanzania at its club-level tournaments to allow spectators to fill 50 percent of the arena as requested by the country’s governing body for soccer.
This brings relief to the Tanzanian envoys in the CAF Champions League Simba and Namungo, who play in the CAF Confederation Cup.
The statement released by TFF Information and Communication Officer Clifford Ndimbo released on Saturday in a move reinforcing Simba’s second leg against Plateau United Nigeria.
The move means Simba, who is in Jos City for his away game today against the Nigerian champions, will have the support of half 60,000 fans during a second leg at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium on December 4, this year.
In its statement to the confederation members, the CAF allowed countries that are COVID-19 free to allow fans to fill half of the arena hosting the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) match, but for the club-level events such as the Champions League and the Confederation, a country after being verified as COVID-19 free can apply for a permit from CAF to allow fans to fill half the arena.
Today, Premier League champions Simba Sports Club will face a great test against Plateau United at the New Jos Stadium in Nigeria.
The Tanzanian envoys will try to break the curse against the Nigerian teams, as no team has overcome a Nigerian hurdle before.
The Nigerian teams that played and eliminated the envoys from Tanzania are Enugu Rangers, Ibadan Shooting Stars, Roca Rovers and Enyimba.
After the first leg, Plateau United will travel to Dar es Salaam for the second leg to be played at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium on December 5 this year.
The Tanzanian envoys left for Nigeria on Tuesday with 24 players and arrived in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Thursday, where they were received by the Tanzanian ambassador to Nigeria Benson Bana.
Before reaching their destination (Abuja), they landed in Ethiopia where they rested for one night.
The squad included three goalkeepers Aishi Manula, Ally Salim and Beno Kakolanya.
Defenders Shomari Kapombe, Gadiel Michael, Mohamed Hussein, Erasto Nyoni, Ibrahim Ame, Joash Onyango, Pascal Wawa, and Kennedy Juma.
The midfielders on the list are Jonas Mkude, Mzamiru Yassin, Said Ndemla, Larry Bwalya, Hassan Dilunga, Francis Kahata and Clatous Chama.
The forwards are John Bocco, Miraj Athumani, Bernard Morrison, Luis Miquissone and Ibrahim Ajibu.
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Simba is currently in third place in the continental first division after amassing 23 points from 11 games behind traditional rivals Young Africans by five points at the top of the standings, while Azam is two points ahead.
On the Nigerian side, the 2020/21 season of the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) has yet to start as the league was halted due to Covid-19, where in the previous season Plateau was at the top of the league. . They accumulated 49 points in 14 victories, seven draws and lost four.
In the 2016/17 season they won the NPFL title after accumulating 66 points. They recorded 19 wins, nine draws and lost ten games.
Simba fans will expect to witness an improvement this season, following last year’s unimpressive performance after they were eliminated in the preliminary round by UD Songo.
While in the 2018/19 season they managed to reach the quarter-finals, it was only in 1974 that Simba managed to get into the semifinals but was knocked out by GhazI El Mahalla through penalty kicks.
