Majaliwa arena big fortune

THE redeveloped modern Majaliwa Stadium has given Southern Tanzania regions new dawn as it has revitalised football and made it open to global-level events.

Officially opened on Sunday, the upgraded arena is set to bring reforms in Lindi and the southern regions, being the only arena in the south part of Tanzania that can host international games with a required global standard.

With state of the art artificial turf surrounded by strong sports flood lights that brighten the entire football pitch, the arena has brought a new dawn for Southern Tanzania’s football and the country as whole.

The much beneficial innovation was commended by President Samia Suluhu Hassan who hailed the residents of Ruangwa for successfully installing such a highly beneficial arena since in modern world sports have been among the crucial elements of tourism.

President Samia said this through a phone dialogue with Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa and the Lindi residents during the stadium’s launching event over the weekend.

The Head of State noted the stadium would be a catalyst for promoting the sports sector in the country.

“I congratulate you on the captivating ceremony to launch the Majaliwa football Stadium; the stadium will also offer the opportunity for our teams to train.”

Earlier, Premier Majaliwa thanked the Ruangwa residents for contributing 20/- from the harvest they produce and sell. He remarked on those contributions; they made the project a success.

“The construction process of this stadium is due to your wishes, and you decided to implement it so that we have this stadium. Hence, your decision to contribute to what you earn per kilogramme has brought us here. Therefore, I am happy about the success, congratulations.”

In addition, Majaliwa said with the consent of the residents of Ruangwa, who have agreed to continue improving the stadium, they will install enough seats to enable fans to be seated in the next phase.

“We have witnessed a few of you seated at the stadium. In the next phase, we have plans to put seats with a width of 110 meters so that you all sit on the stage.”

After the stadium opening ceremony was blessed by Namungo who played their first NBC Premier League match against Ruvu Shooting under the floodlights and won 1-0.

It was Reliant Lusajo’s 82nd-minute goal that delighted the crowd at the stadium to witness the intense game.

Apart from celebrating the opening and victory, Lusajo celebrated his fourth goal this season, leading the golden boot race.

The redevelopment of Majaliwa Stadium has brought meaning to the nation after adding the tally of the stadiums with floodlights. Majaliwa Stadium joins Benjamin Mkapa Stadium, Amaan Stadium, Kaitaba Stadium, Jamhuri Stadium and Azam Complex Stadium.

This makes a total of six stadiums with floodlights able to stage games day and night.

Also, the Majaliwa Stadium has joined the list of the stadiums with artificial turf in the country. Other stadiums include Amaan Stadium, Kaitaba Stadium, Gombani, Uhuru Stadium and Azam Complex Stadium, thus making a sum of five stadiums with artificial turf.

Following the achievement, the Tanzania Premier League Board (TPLB) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Almasi Kasongo has hailed the Ruangwa Council for such a successful completion of the project.d versus Kagera Sugar.

In the same token, only two fixtures produced wins which are Manungu Complex in Morogoro where Mtibwa Sugar outclassed Ihefu 3-1 and Majaliwa Stadium in Lindi where Namungo stunned Ruvu Shooting 1-0.

As such, only Mtibwa Sugar and Namungo have bagged three points in the third round of the league while the rest picked a point or lost their respective assignments.

However, the match between Namungo and Ruvu Shooting has gone into history books for being the first league clash to be played under floodlights at the newly refurbished Majaliwa Stadium which was officially unveiled by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa over the weekend.

This has enabled the country to have five league hosting venues which can support night matches like Benjamin Mkapa Stadium (Dar es Salaam), Azam Complex (Dar es Salaam), Jamhuri Stadium (Dodoma), Kaitaba Stadium (Kagera) and Majaliwa Stadium (Lindi).