51,000-fan motivation beckons Stars success

A CAMPAIGN to turn Benjamin Mkapa Stadium full-house ahead of today’s Taifa Stars versus Uganda match has been labeled successful following the purchase of 51,545 tickets.

This was unveiled yesterday by the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) Media and Information Officer Clifford Ndimbo who said the target to fill ordinary seats which accommodate 45,000 seated fans has been surpassed.

“We are grateful to all those who have taken part in buying tickets for fans. This has shown solidarity among Tanzanians and without doubt, the stadium is going to be full tomorrow (today),” Ndimbo said.

He also lauded President Samia Suluhu Hassan for contributing 7,000 tickets to make the exercise successful as well as other sports stakeholders who dig deep in their pockets to buy them.

According to him, gates leading to the ordinary seats of the stadium are set to be opened from 12:00pm as such; people should come in big numbers as nothing will stop them from getting inside.

“Every Tanzanian who will come to the venue from 12:00pm will have access to the facility mainly to the section that houses ordinary seats.

“For VIP B and C, the procedures to buy tickets continues which are being sold at 5,000/-,” he insisted.

On his part, Simba’s Media and Communication Officer Ahmed Ally also drummed for many people to descend at the arena saying their presence will have a big role in the team’s success.

“Our fellow Tanzanians have already bought us tickets and we just need to go there to support our national team from the first whistle to the last one,” he said.

Similarly, his Young Africans counterpart Ally Kamwe also reiterated that a fully packed stadium will energise players to work hard on the pitch and bring out the highly needed positive results.

“We all hope that at the end of the game, we are going to emerge winners and that victory takes us a step closer to the qualification. Without a doubt, we are set to shine and seize maximum points,” Kamwe said.

However, the tense match has been pegged to start at 8:00 pm.