Government to call meeting over Yanga-Simba controversy
What you need to know:
- According to information received on Monday March 24, 2025, the meeting will take place in Dar es Salaam on Thursday. Officials from Yanga, TFF, and TPLB have been notified and will attend.
Dar es Salaam. The Minister for Information, Culture, Arts, and Sports, Prof Palamagamba Kabudi, is set to meet with leaders of the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF), the Tanzania Premier League Board (TPLB), and Young Africans (Yanga) to resolve the ongoing dispute over the postponement of their Mainland Premier League clash against Simba.
According to information received on Monday March 24, 2025, the meeting will take place in Dar es Salaam on Thursday. Officials from Yanga, TFF, and TPLB have been notified and will attend.
"It is true that we will meet with Minister Kabudi regarding various matters, including the postponement of our match against Simba. We have received the letter and will attend," said a Yanga official who requested anonymity.
A TPLB official also confirmed receiving the government’s letter about the meeting.
"We have been informed about the meeting and will attend. The main agenda is the ongoing debate regarding the postponement of the Yanga against Simba match,” said the official.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts, and Sports, Gerson Msigwa, confirmed that the meeting will be held in Dar es Salaam and will be conducted by Minister Kabudi.
Msigwa also stated that Simba officials will attend the meeting.
Yanga have officially appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after expressing dissatisfaction on the matter.
The match, originally scheduled for March 8 at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium, was postponed after Simba claimed Yanga’s security denied them access to the stadium for their pre-match training session.
Simba formally informed TPLB and TFF that they would not participate in the match, citing a violation of their right to a pre-match training session, as stipulated in league regulations.In response, Yanga insisted that the match should proceed as scheduled, in line with league rules.
However, later in the afternoon, TPLB issued an official statement citing Simba’s concerns and invoking Section 34.1 (1.3) of the regulations, which allows for postponements under emergency circumstances.
Yanga strongly rejected the decision, which has also drawn sharp criticism from football stakeholders, who questioned whether TPLB had followed the proper regulations in making its ruling.
