Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam)
December 19, 2011
YANGA, AZAM FC CLASH ON TUESDAY
MAINLAND soccer big guns, Azam FC and Young Africans, have promised to field their first choice squads in a special match aimed at raising funds for an aid institution, Unity in Diversity Foundation (UDF) scheduled to take place at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Monday.
​
UDF has organized the match to raise funds for paying storage expenses for imported wheelchairs that are currently at the Dar es Salaam port. UDF co-ordinator at the national level, Enock Bigae, said the institution had imported three containers of wheelchairs to be distributed to different disabled people in the country and previously owed storage expenses amounting to 120m/- to the Dar es Salaam port.
​
"We, however, got 90m/- from well wishers to pay for the storage expenses and remained with 30m/- to clear the cargo from the port.
​
We therefore decided to contact Azam FC and Yanga officials and request them to support us by organizing a charity match, whose funds will help us clear our debt," said Bigae.
​
Bigae urged domestic soccer fans in Dar es Salaam and nearby to attend the match in numbers and support UDF's cause. He said the match's entrance fees has been set at 1,000/- for each of the blue seats, 3,000/- for each of the orange seats as VIP B and C seats will cost 10,000/- each.
​
Fans wishing to seat at the VIP A position will have to pay 15,000/- each. Bigae noted that the institution has been importing wheelchairs for disabled people for some time and the beneficiaries of the project include disabled people in Iringa and Shinyanga.
​
He said UDF had previously planned that the match was to be held on December 3 this year as Tanzania and the rest of the world was celebrating the International Day of People with Disabilities, but the match had to be pushed back because the Council of East and Central African Football Associations (CECAFA) Senior Challenge Cup was taking place at the time.
​
Azam FC and Yanga officials expressed their gratitude to UDF for involving them in the matter and they promised to enter full squads in an effort to attract fans and ensure the plan is realized. Yanga Secretary General, Mwesiga Celestine, thanked UDF for supporting disabled people in the country and insisted that his team has prepared well for the match and will field a first choice squad.
​
"Disabled people, so far, are still marginalized in different aspects of daily lives in our country, thus, we thank UDF for supporting them," he said.
​
"We have prepared well for the match and we will field a strong squad our first team has a total of 30 players and that means the absence of any one of them will hardly deprive the match of its importance," he added.
​
Celestine also hinted that the match has come at the right time as Yanga is preparing for the second round of the Mainland Premier League and the African Club Championship, thus, the team will further use it as part of preparations.