Clubs Must Utilise Available Resources

[Invisible]

Poor funding and financial mismanagement are outstanding hitches that dominate Tanzania's soccer teams. Fortunately, the two powerhouses of local soccer, Simba SC and Young Africans SC of Dar es Salaam, are in possession of vast amounts of idle tangible assets. These resources, put to good use, could easily alleviate the financial woes that habitually result in brewing endless bickering within the club houses.

At the FIFA-directed administration and technical seminar in Bagamoyo mid this week, it was pointed out that it is high time local clubs moved towards financial independence.

FIFA's veteran regional delegate, South African administrator Dr Ashford Mamelodi who visited the premises of the two powerful clubs, was really astonished to hear that they entirely depend on gate collections and some sponsorship to meet their needs, despite significant real estate resources left idle.

Mamelodi urged the two clubs to work out strategies of commercial transformation that would eventually bring the clubs into financial stability and independence. Yanga chairman Imani Madega estimated this week that the club assets can be valued as being in excess of Sh2 billion. Madega becomes the first leader between the two clubs to have responded well to advice from the FIFA sanctioned seminar professionals.

Due to letting billion shillings resources lie idle, the two Dar es Salaam teams are routinely dependent on gate collections and sponsors' funding in running their activities. Mamelodi's call is not new as some leaders of the clubs have at one time engineered a campaign for commercial transformation but to no avail.

More than ten years ago the Yanga club under the leadership of George Mpondela proposed to establish a company that would run the activities of the club, but the idea took long to be implemented.

At present about 50 per cent of gate collections shared by teams competing in the premier league is not enough to meet financial obligations, and is yet misappropriated.

Poor financial management has in most cases culminated in cycles of crisis for the two top city teams, which hasn't helped to boost their standard of soccer and that of the country generally, as the two are the reference points.

Source: The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

18 November 2007