QUALITY of natural grass re-laid at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam has been described as of high standard and will last for ten years, the National Assembly was told yesterday.
Minister for Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, Harrison Mwakyembe, said the pitch renovation works was completed and the venue will be handed back to the government on November 24th, this year. He told the National Assembly here yesterday that after the renovation, which lasted for three months, the pitch re-laid with quality natural grass will be used for ten years undisrupted.
“The new turf guarantees that the pitch will be in the best possible condition for a long time,” he said. Poor quality of pitches in the country has been a thorn in the side of the clubs and the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF), with most of them in pathetic condition.
The re-opening of National Stadium will give them (clubs and TFF) great relief. The 60,000 capacity stadium, which is mainly used as the home ground to Dar es Salaam based Mainland Premier League giants Simba and Young Africans, was temporarily closed, to pave way for massive pitch renovation with the support from SportPesa Tanzania.
It was closed shortly after the Community Shield game between Yanga and Simba on August 23rd this year, which saw total removal of the entire grasses on the pitch to pave a space for the new grasses.
The decision to close down the venue forced a big league match pitting Simba and Yanga on October 28th this year to be played at the Uhuru Stadium a much smaller capacity, where it was estimated that over 35,000 soccer fans were locked out. Significantly, the importance of good maintenance has been emphasised with clubs, TFF and fans all urged to take good care of the venue.
Minister Mwakyembe said they will use the stadium for sports and tourism promotion. He said, they are in discussion with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, to see how best they could handle the issue.
He said the epic SportPesa Super Cup final which attracted England’s decorated side Everton FC and Kenya’s club Gor Mahia on July 13th this year, was also staged at the same stadium and managed to magnetise a good number of supporters both from Tanzania and Kenya, who came to watch top class players like Wayne Rooney.
It was a good opportunity for Tanzania to welcome such a high profile EPL team, which stepped into East Africa territory for the first time. “For a long time, our main challenge has been lack of consistency in preservation and maintenance of this beautiful stadium,” Mwakyembe noted.
When he inspected the renovation recently, Mwakyembe said it is high time that the six young men who worked closely with the American expert in upgrading the arena should be offered employment opportunities in order for them to provide regular maintenance works on the pitch when operational.
The highest recorded attendance at the stadium was 70,000 people who descended at the venue to watch the traditional derby between Simba and Yanga on October 26, 2008.
With five main entrance gates, the stadium also has a car carrying capacity to accommodate 600 vehicles plus 114 closed-circuit Television cameras not forgetting a well furnished VIP lounge and an extended roof.
Until now, the National Stadium remains the largest playing field in the country and eleventh biggest in Africa which will actively be used for the upcoming 2019 Africa Youth Championship (AYC) finals to be held in the country for the first time.
Meanwhile, Minister Mwakyembe told the House that the new national sports policy will be in place in six months time.
“We want to set a conducive environment for sports to flourish in the country, let me assure you, that the new sports policy has catered for all the needs in the sector, which at the end of the day will improve the sports quality, standard and performance” Mwakyembe said.
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