TFF information chief unaware Taifa Stars players grumbling over camp

Information leaking from the camp and being discussed in soccer talk shops suggest that other factors are working to lower the playing morale, despite that a number of the largely experimental squad may see it as an adventure since they appear for foreign clubs.

How far this adventure is motivation to play at their best is another matter, but few think it is sufficient to get the best out of them,

A fairly noticeable soccer talk show towards the end of last week either invited or rather phoned Clifford Ndimbo, information officer for the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) who in sum said that all is well in the camp (set up in Egypt before the tournament kicks off in Ivory Coast in the coming week).

What surprised the show pundits is that the official was adamant he was not aware of complaints among the players that they were yet to be paid allowances for either one or two camps earlier (for the qualifying matches, before the current camp).

This implies the morale is low as calling up players for either the national side or any other team has a presumed element of player allowances, but as it is true in certain levels of government, it depends on who is there and what they wish to do, or if any higher level administrator will intervene.

It is unclear if this is what has been happening whether the national team pitches camp somewhere as it is not on the daily menu of soccer pundits when the national team is called up or plays.

Due to the paucity of recollecting when this sort of situation came up in the recent past, it would thus appear that it is an event, a break from the habit, which has to be interpreted or explained.

The reason cannot be budgetary because the Premier League fetches far more money than it used to do previously, and thus TFF cannot have become all too rapidly, with its success.

One thing that is often visible about such shortages is that they are likely to be a bargaining chip in the hands of administrators, as they seek ‘the golden goose’ for having reached the AFCON finals.

It is unclear what sort of demands the federation may have put across to the government, by itself if it has the channels to do it, or via the National Sports Council (NSC) depending on how far it exercises day-to-day links with the government.

Of late, TFF has visible access to officials at the top level, first with the current minister, and then with the ‘Samia goal funds’.

Chroniclers affirm that the current Minister for Culture, Arts, and Sports Damas Ndumbaro is a TFF insider, while former minister Pindi Chana was a rank outsider to its activities and internal ‘game’ patterns’.

It is, hence, sufficient that the minister gives a positive hearing on a TFF request for additional funds (leaving aside the regular budget and how far it catered for qualifying and participating in AFCON finals) to ignite the impression of funds shortage to be demonstrated in its operations.

It will pain the federation the most when the public begins to inquire into players’ allowances and if there are tricks that are being played on the players, affirming ministerial promise is alright as an excuse for not having obtained allowances, as if this was not budgeted for.

There is still a possibility that it is helpful not to discount, that the AFCON qualification and thus its budgeting was not taken into account in setting the budget for this sporting season, the TFF calendar, and the relevant stipends for the year.

This sort of environment or circumstance has been noticed in other spheres as in reorganizing Premier League matches once the city archrivals both qualified for the Group Stage of the CAF Champions League, and pundits were at a loss to explain systematic dislocation of various rounds, but to accommodate Group Stage fixtures and thus the absence of either side from earlier fixtures.

Such non-accommodation of success is even easier to bring about in a national qualification, as it creates the semblance of an emergency in that the money dried out even earlier in the run, etc.

It is also relevant to suggest that there is a bit of a nagging habit that may have developed from the repeated use of personal cash offer gestures to bring about the best in the city archrivals, by promises of bountiful purchases of goals.

In that way TFF would have every reason to expect that the national side be immersed in such funds from the start as the teams Taifa Stars will play are hard nuts to crack.

The TFF knows it cannot wait for a promise from the Head of State on each goal scored in AFCON finals as it is a long shot, and would presumably push for specific cost coverage as the matter came up nearly as a surprise.

The minister would grasp it, and it is even possible he would do the pushing himself while TFF officials sit comfortably in the office, feigning a lack of awareness of player disquiet in the camp.