Yanga, Simba slapped with stadium bans after derby violence

Tanzanian Premier League giants, Young Africans SC and Simba SC have both been banned from holding any of their matches at the country’s National Stadium in Dar es Salaam following the ugly scenes of fan violence that erupted during a league clash between the two sides on Saturday that ended in a 1-1 stalemate.

A controversial first half awarded to hosts, Young Africans (popularly known as Yanga) set off protests from the opposition who claimed Burundian forward, Amissi Joselyn Tambwe, had handled the ball before sticking it at the back of the net.

Amid the vicious protests the match’s center referee, Martin Saanya, dished out a red card for the Msimbazi Street Boys’ skipper, Jonas Mkude, triggering wild reactions from the travelling fans who could not stand seeing their team go a goal and a man down in the space of minutes.

“The clubs will pay for all the damages caused by their fans. The government will retain to funds belonging to both clubs and we’re even thinking of banning them from playing any of their matches at the stadium.

“They’ll provisionally hold their matches elsewhere as we monitor the situation before making a final decision. A lot of taxpayers’ money has been used to invest in this stadium and so it needs to be protected. Furthermore, it is not just Yanga and Simba that need this facility; we have a lot more clubs that require its services,” Tanzania’s Minister of Sports, Nape Moses Nnauye, told Citizen Digital.

Popularly known as the Dar es Salaam derby, Simba versus Young Africans is regarded as the most popular derby in East and Central Africa. Most of their fans stretch far beyond Tanzanian borders with Yanga boasting huge fan bases in Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi while some of Simba’s fans are drawn from Sudan, Kenya and Zambia.

Simba (17) are currently top of the league standings after seven rounds while Yanga are third on 11 points, four behind second-placed Stand United albeit having a game in hand.