Most local clubs are operating on a shoestring budget even after the Premier League Interim Committee landed a lucrative annual 3.2bn/- sponsorship package, it has been revealed.
President of the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF), Leodegar Tenga
President of the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF), Leodegar Tenga praised the Premier League Interim Committee for the job well done so far but said much more efforts should be put forth to attract more sponsors to support the league.
Tenga said on a minimum each top flight league team needs more than 400m/- annually to at least operate smoothly, a sum which will cover players, coaches and official’s salaries, transport, accommodation and meals as well as package for transfer market.
According to Tenga, league main sponsors Vodacom Tanzania have upped their package to 1.7bn annually, while Azam TV have dished out 1.6bn/-, and under the current sponsorship package, each team is entitled to 160m/- per season, which is far shot from what is required to cover their operations’ costs.
Regardless, Tenga said there was much improvement in-terms of sponsorship and the smaller clubs especially, are now breathing a sigh of relief compared to the past seasons.
“While big clubs like Simba and Yanga have a turnover of up to 1.5bn/- annually because they attract extra sponsorship from Tanzania Breweries Limited (TBL) and others. It sums up to say that so far so good for the league interim committee because in a shortest span possible, they have managed to land a new big deal with Azam TV and negotiated an improved package with Vodacom. I’m very much pleased with the way they handled the last phase of the league last season and it only show us that we’ve to hope for the best,” said Tenga.
Tenga went further saying that despite the shortcomings, Tanzania league is among the most financed in the East, South and Central Africa, apart from South Africa and Angola. “This is why more foreign players are now attracted to our league,” he asserted.
Tenga said, initially there were fears among the TFF executive members to handover mandate to run the league to a committee but now everyone has realised why they made such a decision.
“There is much more efficiency now…problems such as delay in paying the referee and match commissioners for both the First Division (FDL) and premier leagues have been minimized. Sponsors funds now go directly to the League Committee,” Tenga noted.
He said they established the committee for the purpose of ensuring that clubs are directly in charge of the league in a bid to bringing productivity, growth and stability.
“Our commitment was to ensure better performance and good governance in running the league because we believe the two ingredients are the key attributes which attract sponsorship. “It is my expectation that efficiency will continue to increase,” he said.
In another development, Tenga said effective 2014/15 season, each top flight and first division club will be required to submit audited report before being cleared to feature in their respective leagues. Meanwhile, over 620 players have been cleared by the TFF’s Legal, Ethics and Players Status Committee to feature for their respective teams in the First Division League (FDL)
Source Tanzania Daily News
