Open title race moves Kibadeni

COACH Abdallah ‘King’ Kibadeni has hailed the open nature of the 2015/16 Mainland Premier League race, saying it is the most exciting in recent years since all top clubs are still in contention, but sounded warning over match fixing in the title run in.

Kibadeni, who currently coaches JKT Ruvu and presides as the technical advisor to national team, Taifa Stars, outlined his excitement at more than two teams being contenders, with Simba, Young Africans and Azam all in the race for the domestic silverware.

“The league has shown to be competitive this season, with six or seven games remaining you cannot tell which team is going to lift the title, it’s contrary to the previous seasons when one or two teams would have been odds to win the league,” Kibadeni told the ‘Daily News’ yesterday.

“You can also see that big teams like Coastal Union and JKT Ruvu are fighting to avoid the relegation, with debutant teams such as Mwadui and Ndanda are sitting mid of the table, so it’s a great league campaign,” Kibadeni added.

The former football legend urged the country’s football governing body, TFF, and the Tanzania Premier League Board to ensure there is a fair competition in the title race.

“It is important that all teams play the same number of games going into the final matches so as to avoid any possible match-fixing, some teams have played more games than others, so those with few games must first play their games in hand.

It is possible that teams which have a few games in hand can conspire with those which find themselves safe from relegation and attempt to fix their matches.

I think that the last four games should be played simultaneously,” he added. As it stands, Simba top the league after bagging 57 points from 24 games, while their closer competitors Young Africans and Azam are settled in the second and third slots respectively tied on 50 points with both sides having three games in hand.

Coastal Union sit bottom with 19 points from 24 outings, with African Sports second bottom on 20 points from 24 games, while JKT Ruvu are third-bottom with 21 points from 24 matches.

Having played three games more than their main rivals, Simba refused to honour their remaining league fixture until after Yanga and Azam play their games in hand, claiming that a move to allow some clubs to have at least three games in hand is likely to help fix matches.

The club lodged an official protest to the TFF, which was copied to the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, complaining that the federation was trying to favour some clubs in the title race.

The Premier League eventually bowed to Simba and revised the fixture, with the Reds given a long break until April 16 this year, when they will host Toto Africans at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam.

In the adjusted fixtures, Yanga will face Kagera Sugar at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam on April 3, while Azam FC will travel to Mwanza to face Toto Africans at the CCM Kirumba Stadium the same day.

Three days later, Yanga will host Mtibwa Sugar at the National Stadium, while on the same date Azam will play host to Ndanda FC at their Azam Complex in Chamazi, Dar es Salaam.