Football stakeholders in Tanzania have received from a different point of view the arrival of Al Hilal club to participate in the NBC premier league next season
The League Board has confirmed the receipt of Al Hilal's application to participate in the NBC Premier League next season due to the ongoing war in Sudan that has caused all sports activities to stop for almost two years now
Information from within the TFF has confirmed that Al Hilal have been accepted to participate in the Premier League next season but they will not be in the league standings and the points they will collect will not be counted
Because their matches will only be friendly as they will not have any impact on other teams in the league
Some stakeholders have expressed their opinions believing that their arrival will increase the number of matches that the teams will have to play without any benefit
"Here we are going to add matches for the teams without any benefit. I believe that even the clubs will not take the matches against Al Hilal seriously because they are just like friendly matches"
"I think if there is a necessity for Al Hilal to participate in our league then they should be in the standings. The only thing they should not benefit from is the chances of participating in the Champions League and the Federation Cup," said Ifraim Masoud from Mbeya region
And football analyst Hans Rafael has said that the team's points will not be counted in the standings, but they will still be counted 'in points' and it will bring discussions at the end of the season if it happens that they have got more points than the team that will be the champion
"Now if it happens that they have collected more points than all the teams and the cup is given to the second person, will this championship really be attractive? And with the joke of Simba and Yanga, will the champion have the strength to play?"
The chairman of the League Board, Almas Kasongo has said that the arrival of Al Hilal is possible because it is something that is being talked about due to the security situation in Sudan at the moment
Kasongo added that if Al Hilal will participate in the league next season, the benefits are more for Tanzanian clubs than the challenges due to the team's experience of regularly participating in the African Champions League and the Confederations Cup
He also said that there are some referees from Sudan who will be among those who will officiate the matches of the Premier League next season 2024/2025.
