TFF: Why I Support the Govt's Decision

Here we go again, Mabibi na Mabwana. For all y'all that have been thinking that this blog is solely dedicated to whipping the government to death, I have a surprise for you. Leo naifagilia serikali, si maajabu hayo? But when praise is due, let praise be given.

It is not that I am big fan of THIS DAY newspaper, but it just happened to run a story that caught my attention. The story was headlined "Govt ignores TFF, strikes Stars coach deal" [Read the entire story here].

In my view, the government's decision couldn't have been much better. Despite his better-than-Ndolanga job that Mr. Leodegar Tenga has done, I am afraid that he does not possess stellar leadership qualities (please refer to my post on June 27, 2006) that are desired for such an "important" organization as TFF.

For those who have been following the coach hiring story, you can agree with me that TFF has made all the wrong moves. First, they were VERY slow in acting to the government offer. Ridiculously, Mr. Tenga could not even give the government a timely update on their search progress. I mean, walitaka Serikali iwape nini? Gunia la chawa?. If TFF could not "appreciate" the government's offer and act on it with an unbelievable speed, then I can just conclude that something is very amiss, from a leadership standpoint, in the mind of Mr. Tenga and his team at TFF.

Secondly, when TFF finally acted on the government offer, they went extremely overboard. The TFF's proposal of a Brazilian coach Julio Ceasar Leal and others, would have costed the government a whopping TShs 662m/- for 15 months. That figure, in USD, would have been roughly $44,000 on a mothly basis. Si bora tumlipe hata Charles Mkwasa $5,000 kwa mwezi? Guess what? The government finally figured out hawa watu wanaleta za kuleta. The government "fired" TFF and employed the services of international recruiting agencies [Read here ].

I am not sure whether the hired Brazilian Coach Marcio Maximo will do wonders and bring Tanzania to soccer glories, given the fact that other foreign coaches have been hired only to be frustrated by the work ethic of both players and TFF officials. Nonetheless, that is a topic of itself. For now, I can only cherish the fact that the government has made a swift, good decision. For that, the government has my "vote"....