Yanga, City revel in gate revenue

Dar es Salaam. Young Africans and Mbeya City are among the clubs sagging under the weight of massive gate collection, thanks to their massive fan bases.

Officials of the two clubs must be smiling all the way to the bank after their Vodacom Premier League match at Sokoine Memorial Stadium in Mbeya on Saturday grossed Sh100 million.

The amount is the highest gate revenue to be collected since the Mbeya venue was constructed. The teams played out a one-all draw in a match marred by incidents of hooliganism.

The staggering figure is Sh50m more than the amount realised during a league match between Yanga and Tanzania Prisons FC last season at the same venue.

Tanzania Premier League (TPL) board chief executive officer, Silas Mwakibinga said that the figure was an indication that both Mbeya City and Yanga command a huge following in Mbeya. Mwakibinga said Mbeya fans were fighting for tickets ahead of the match, and by 11am on Saturday all tickets had been sold out.

“Organisers and security people were forced to bar some fans from making it into the stadium after learning that it was packed to its capacity two or so hours before the match started,” he said.

“Our target was to have 20,000 soccer fans at the venue, and luckily enough we attained the mission.

“Some fans were barred from making it into the venue to avoid chaos because it was fully packed. This, however, did not derail their spirits,” he said. He said the big turn up at the stadium was also a clear indication that Mbeya City will emulate Tukuyu Stars, once one of the most feared Premier League teams from Mbeya.

Tukuyu Stars, the former Mainland champions, used to command a huge following in Mbeya in particular, and the Southern Highlands Zone in general in the 1990s.

He said Prisons FC and Mecco never enjoyed the support Mbeya City get during their league matches at Sokoine Stadium.