Tanzanian football giants Young Africans (Yanga) and Simba Sports Club have finally agreed to play their highly anticipated league match, after the intervention of President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
The two teams were originally scheduled to face each other on March 8, but the match was not played because Simba refused to participate after being denied access to train at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium by Yanga fans—the team designated to host the match.
The training session in question was scheduled to happen 24 hours before the game.
After the match was canceled, the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) rescheduled it to a new date; however, Yanga swore they would never play the game, insisting that Simba should forfeit and they should be awarded all three points.
The standoff escalated to the point where Tanzania’s Minister of Sports intervened, urging both teams to play, but it had no effect.
The dispute also reached the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the High Court of Tanzania, but both courts dismissed Yanga’s claims. The latter court had ordered that the match be played on Sunday, June 15, a decision that Yanga strongly rejected.
After three months of intense back-and-forth, it finally took President Samia Suluhu Hassan to bring the teams together. On Friday, June 13, she invited the leaders of both clubs—two of the most supported teams in the country—to her office in a bid to end the growing tension.
On her X (formerly Twitter) account, President Samia stated that the discussions focused on the development of football in Tanzania.
The talks resulted in Simba and Yanga agreeing to play their long-awaited match on June 25 this year.
With only three matches remaining in the Tanzanian Premier League, Yanga currently leads the table with 73 points, just one point ahead of second-placed Simba.
This means that the winner of the upcoming match will have the upper hand in the title race.
