KEEP WAYWARD REFEREES OUT OF KILI CUP TOURNEY
For almost a week, soccer fans will focus their attention on Arusha, where the finals of this year’s Kili Taifa Cup championship, one of the oldest football tournaments in the country, will take place. Eight teams that excelled during the round-robin stage are already in the northern city for the event, which kicks off today.
We hope fair play will prevail during the tourney, and the referees, the players and their coaches and managers will have a key role to play here. The referees must avoid making biased decisions, which only create acrimony, robbing the tournament of the excitement it deserves.
In Tanzania, in the region and elsewhere in the world, wayward and incompetent referees are the bane of the game.
The charged atmosphere that results from inept handling of matches prevents the players from freely showcasing their talents. In some instances, police have had to be called in to save referees from being attacked by aggrieved parties.
We expect fair competition between the various teams and may the best clinch the cup. However, we are only too aware that in past competitions, wayward referees have robbed some teams of victory. And the Kili Taifa Cup is no exception.
It is through such competitions that we identify new talents that can be developed to feature in the national team. It is also an avenue through which young players exhibit their talents and attract the scouts of the various national league teams. The blatant bias by referees, who are expected to be impartial umpires, sends a negative signal to the youngsters.
We expect the organisers to ensure that referees do their job without fear or favour so that a true verdict on the competence of the various teams can emerge. We can’t ask for more from them.
We hope fair play will prevail during the tourney, and the referees, the players and their coaches and managers will have a key role to play here. The referees must avoid making biased decisions, which only create acrimony, robbing the tournament of the excitement it deserves.
In Tanzania, in the region and elsewhere in the world, wayward and incompetent referees are the bane of the game.
The charged atmosphere that results from inept handling of matches prevents the players from freely showcasing their talents. In some instances, police have had to be called in to save referees from being attacked by aggrieved parties.
We expect fair competition between the various teams and may the best clinch the cup. However, we are only too aware that in past competitions, wayward referees have robbed some teams of victory. And the Kili Taifa Cup is no exception.
It is through such competitions that we identify new talents that can be developed to feature in the national team. It is also an avenue through which young players exhibit their talents and attract the scouts of the various national league teams. The blatant bias by referees, who are expected to be impartial umpires, sends a negative signal to the youngsters.
We expect the organisers to ensure that referees do their job without fear or favour so that a true verdict on the competence of the various teams can emerge. We can’t ask for more from them.
FIGHT POVERTY IN EARNEST
Nearly 50 years since independence, poverty, which, alongside disease and ignorance, was identified by the freedom fighters as the enemies of the new nation, still remains a big headache for the people and their leaders. According to the 2009 UN Human Development Report, 88.5 per cent Tanzania’s population of 40 million lives under less than $1.25 a day.
Socioeconomic deprivation continues to bedevil a country that has otherwise enjoyed decades of peace and stability in a continent ridden with political volatility and strife.
However, Tanzania has abundant resources. Sadly, the numerous economic programmes initiated have failed to raise incomes and improve social services. And a new Oxfam programme statement has come as a rude shock to many that unless the current strategies are seriously revised it will take a good 120 years for the country to eradicate poverty.
The Oxfam report warns that the current two to three per cent reduction in poverty annually is too low to eliminate it. Poverty is, of course, more pronounced in the rural areas, where some 65 per cent of all Tanzanians live, relying on agriculture.
Although 75 per cent of the country’s workforce is engaged in agriculture, the majority of the farmers lack the requisite skills, inputs and markets for their farm produce and face infrastructural problems. Moreover, agriculture is at the mercy of vagaries of weather.
The sector is largely neglected. Huge sums of money are either spent on less important areas or embezzled. We cannot afford to go off on a tangent any longer. Let’s put our priorities right and seriously fight poverty.
Socioeconomic deprivation continues to bedevil a country that has otherwise enjoyed decades of peace and stability in a continent ridden with political volatility and strife.
However, Tanzania has abundant resources. Sadly, the numerous economic programmes initiated have failed to raise incomes and improve social services. And a new Oxfam programme statement has come as a rude shock to many that unless the current strategies are seriously revised it will take a good 120 years for the country to eradicate poverty.
The Oxfam report warns that the current two to three per cent reduction in poverty annually is too low to eliminate it. Poverty is, of course, more pronounced in the rural areas, where some 65 per cent of all Tanzanians live, relying on agriculture.
Although 75 per cent of the country’s workforce is engaged in agriculture, the majority of the farmers lack the requisite skills, inputs and markets for their farm produce and face infrastructural problems. Moreover, agriculture is at the mercy of vagaries of weather.
The sector is largely neglected. Huge sums of money are either spent on less important areas or embezzled. We cannot afford to go off on a tangent any longer. Let’s put our priorities right and seriously fight poverty.
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