THE Tanzania Premier League Board (TPLB) has reminded all clubs parading in the NBC Premier League to upgrade their playing venues during the Mapinduzi Cup break.
A statement released by the board’s Department of Information and Communication recently indicated that the 12th round of the Premier League will resume on January 14th after Mapinduzi Cup hence; the break period should be used to upgrade their venues.
It said renovation of playing venues is among the key components of the Club Licensing Regulations hence TPLB will be on the forefront to make sure that clubs implement the requirements of the regulation by 100 percent this season.
The statement further named the priority areas to be seriously taken into consideration when facelifting the arenas as the pitch, dressing rooms, the barrier to separate the pitch with the stands, technical areas benches and fans’ toilets. “The Club Licensing Committee will inspect all the playing venues before the resumption of the 12th round of the league and those which will be seen unfit to host premier league matches will be suspended,” leads part of the statement.
The 2022 Mapinduzi Cup gets underway from Sunday (January 2nd) with ten teams lined up to fight for the championship whose current holders are Young Africans. Tanzania Mainland will deploy four teams which are Simba, Azam, Namungo and holders Yanga while hosts Zanzibar will parade six teams which are Yosso Boys, Taifa J, KMKM, Meli 4 City, Mlandege and Selem View.
Giants Simba and Yanga will launch their campaign on Wednesday as the former take on Selem View while later, Yanga will begin their title defense against Taifa Jang’ombe. The opening game of the tournament on Sunday will see Namungo hosting Meli 4 City as both sides are packed in group A together with Azam and Yosso Boys. However, a meeting between Azam and Namungo will spice up group A fixtures since it will be an NBC Premier League clash in the Isles.
Yanga clinched the Mapinduzi Cup silverware after registering a 4-3 post-match penalties win against their traditional rivals Simba in an explosive finale at Amaan Stadium in Zanzibar.
