Sports

Simba face Jamhuri Super8 test

MAINLAND champions will have the chance again to prove the quality of its re-strengthened squad when they face Jamhuri from Pemba in the BancABC SUP 8R League at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Sunday.

The tournament comes exactly eight days after the regional club championship, CECAFA Kagame Cup climaxed in Dar es Salaam and football fans around the country brace for what promises to be another amazing spectacle of footballing splendor.

The newly introduced pre-season tournament will compete top teams from Mainland Premier League, Simba, runners-up Azam FC, fourth-placed Mtibwa Sugar and newly promoted Polisi Morogoro. Mtibwa replaces Yanga who have pulled out of the tournament.

The quartet will be joined by three teams that held top position in Zanzibar's top flight, which are Jamhuri, Zima Moto and Super Falcon and the fourth team is Mtende Rangers, which was recently promoted to play in the Isles top division.The championship will be staged in four different centres which are Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Mwanza and Zanzibar.

There will be four matches taking place simultaneously in all four centres today, with Premier League champions Simba taking on Jamhuri in Dar es Salaam, Zimamoto will lock horns with Mtende Rangers at the CCM Kirumba Stadium in Mwanza.
 
Mtibwa Sugar and Polisi Morogoro will square off at the Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium in Arusha. Meanwhile, Super Falcon will play host to Azam in Zanzibar. All matches will kick-off at 4pm.

The tournament was initially scheduled to kick off yesterday, but organizers announced on Friday that the event has been pushed forward for one day. The grand finale of the two-week-long tournament is expected to be held at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam on August 18.

Speaking during the event BancABC Managing Director Boni Nyoni said that the bank has decided to sponsor the tournament as a reward to its loyal customers, as well as to answer the call by government for more corporate involvement in sports.

He said the sponsorship for SUP8R Tournament 2012 is 880m/- which includes, preparation and organization costs, accommodation, transportation and prizes.

Winner of the tournament will take away 40m/-, the losing finalist will pocket in 20m/-, the semi-finalists will get 15m/- each and four first round losers will earn 5m/-. The overall best player and top scorer will take home 2.5 and 2m/- respectively.

BancABC launched the 8-team football knock-out tournament, now known as SUP8R in 2008 in Zimbabwe but due to overwhelming success of the sponsorship in the last three years, the bank decided to make the SUP8R an annual event.