The Azam Tv deal, SuperSport factor and The Nature of our local market

  

It was reported by  a section of the local media that Azam Tv outbidded SuperSport for the Tanzania Premier league Tv rights. It is a story that is hard to buy into given the fact that it was not confirmed if SuperSport did put up an official bid. Again given their vast experience and financial muscles in Sub-Saharan  sports broadcasting, it is hard to imagine they could be easily outbidded if they really wanted it.

It is all about business. Kenya and Uganda with a middle class of 44 and 28 per cents respectively compared to Tanzania’s 12 percent are both more attractive markets to DSTV business. Tanzania’s low middle class base correlate to a lower subscription rate relative to Uganda and Kenya. Apart from football what were they really going to show here? Kenya and Uganda both participate in many other games, rugby and athletics in particular. Tanzania having completely ignored other sports, only offered football meaning if SuperSport were to invest  here, their costly equipments would lie idle most of the time.

Azam Tv might have offered a better financial package but had SuperSport really wanted to flex up their financial muscles, it would have been an interesting fight that would have left our clubs laughing all the way to the bank. When GTV bid for the Kenya Premier league television rights SuperSport realized there were losing the battle. GTV had acquired television rights for the local leagues in Uganda and Tanzania and were sure of including Kenya in the fold. SuperSport was forced to come up with a better bid and eventually acquired television rights for KPL. That’s what competition do. Had SuperSport really wanted to acquire our rights they would have easily bettered what Azam Media Limited offered.

Again, the Tanzania premier league committee could have done a better job of advertising for a competitive tender that would have seen different media players competing. It is hard to get a better deal than what Azam Media limited have offered given the prevailing nature of our market. Ours is a small isolated market that can hardly attract a foreign media player to invest to the tune of what Azam have managed. Nevertheless due process should have been followed. Perhaps our clubs could have gotten much more from a competitive tender process.

In the midst of the reported controversies surrounding the deal, let us not forget that Azam signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tanzania league committee that practically gives  chance to any media player to collaborate with them. They have taken a diplomatic route of not going for an exclusive deal that locks out other willing partners. For example, Zuku , StarTimes or SuperSport can easily partner with Azam in broadcasting the league. In short, Azam Tv has not acquired  exclusive rights, there is plenty of room for other willing media house.Though it is not enough, it is still a sweet, sweet deal that is very hard to criticize despite the mistakes committed by the Tanzania Premier league committee.

Rwanda's March towards Hosting The Afcon Tournament

While Tanzania was comprehensively thrashed by Uganda and Kenya had to endure an embarrassing exit in the hands of Burundi, Rwanda battled it with Ethiopia before narrowly losing on penalties shoot out in the CHAN qualifiers. So while Uganda will once again grace the CHAN tournament in South Africa, the two football-snoring sisters, Tanzania and Kenya will be thinking on how to qualify for the next tournament in 2016. On the other hand, Rwanda will be thinking on how to put up a better show as the CHAN 2016 host country.

However much we are getting used to the fact that Rwanda is more organized it is still embarrassing to contemplate the fact that the smallest nation in East Africa will be hosting a continental tournament once again while the rest are making political noise of hosting tournaments without actually tendering any bid. How comes, Tanzania, 34 times bigger than Rwanda can only boast of hosting the annual boring tournament called CECAFA where group losers have a chance to qualify for the knock out stage? Can’t we start by bidding for continental youth tournaments like under 17 and 20? 

Kenya, the regional business hub and the strongest economy with an annual budget  12 times bigger than Rwanda has been making political noise of bidding for the AFCON tournament for a long time without showing any real intent. Kenya successfully hosted the 1987 All Africa Games. They also won the AFCON 1996 bid but could not financially commit themselves. CAF subsequently withdrew the rights and granted South Africa that opportunity. Since then Kenya has expressed intention of bidding without actually bidding.

We may shrug off Rwanda as a tiny country that is trying too much to punch above its weight, we might even dismiss the CHAN tournament as a  poor sister to AFCON but the fact remain Rwanda is on the right track. They are  closer to hosting the AFCON than the rest of EAC members. They have begun by successfully hosting the under 17 African youth championship, a tournament that involves 8 teams. They earned the rare chance of representing Africa in the FIFA under 17 championship, a feat  no other EAC member has achieved. They have now graduated to hosting the CHAN, a 16-team tournament that involves almost the same logistics as the  AFCON. Next on their ambitions plate will be hosting AFCON as the rest fight to host CECAFA.

John Bocco,Our Foreplay football and The genesis of his Crucification.

Despite being the most consistent striker in the domestic league for the past four seasons, John Bocco always has a hard time in the national team. Having neither played for Simba nor Yanga, he has very few voices to defend him. Always an easy target for fans ridicule whenever Taifa Stars misfire, he reached his nadir when fans booed his every touch and thereafter ‘retired’ from the national team.

He had a change of heart in the Kim Poulsen era and was soon back in the squad. Mbwana Samata has restricted him to just a few cameo appearances. In the absence of Samatta and Ulimwengu in the CHAN competition, he is expected to lead our attack. Unlike Samata and Ulimwengu who are more aggressive and can effectively play outside the box, Bocco is a limited target man who is more effective in the box.He is not good at pulling away from his marker.He essentially lacks the intrinsic skills of drawing away defenders from the box.

Bocco can play outside the box as we saw in the second half against Uganda. He can hold up play but at a much slower pace, his dribbling skills are restricted to a basic level meaning against quality opposition he is ineffective outside the box. Bocco, despite his height has not learnt the art of playing with his back to the goal.Due to his slow turns he is only deadly when the ball is delivered in front of him while facing the goal.

He gets crucified for his lack of goals in the national team even when he hardly gets the supply.At times he wastes chances just like any other striker but the strong criticisms from fans and pundits is very subjective and only serve to affect his performance. Away from the demeaning simba and Yanga fans in Dar,he has had two wonderful cecafa tournaments in Nairobi and Kampala.

He rarely creates chances for himself but he can bang them in given good supply. If Bocco is that bad,as some fans and pundits claim how comes he has scored the most number of goals in the past four seasons in our domestic league? At Azam he is fondly known as JB19 for his jersey number and the 19 goals he scored in the 2011-2012 season to emerge the top scorer.

At times it is not fair to crucify individual players just because a team is not performing according to our expectations. Taifa Stars, at best, plays lots of foreplays passes with no penetration at all.Foreplay without penetration is nothing in football,football is about penetration and goals.How is Bocco supposed to carry the cross for our collective failure?

Taifa Stars leaking Defence and The Erasto Nyoni Conundrum

Taifa Stars have lost three matches in a row, fingers have been pointed at the leaking defence, fans
rightly pointing out the soft goals we have conceded. While we have had to labour for our goals,
opponents have had it easy scoring past Kaseja. Against Morocco our defenders were caught ball
watching as they attempted to play the offside trap, we were duly punished for that comical offside
trap.
As if to emphasize that we learnt nothing about defending and forgot nothing about our mistakes, we
gifted Ivory Coast four easy goals that sealed our fate in the World cup campaign. Perhaps taking our
hospitality too far, we also rewarded our neighbor, Uganda with an easy goal after our defenders
allowed two Ugandan players two comfortably interchange passes in the danger zone before Dennis
Iguma expertly shot past Kaseja.
Erasto Nyoni who manned the right fullback position has been accused of poor performance, fans and
analysts questioning his inclusion. After the Ivory Coast match, Poulsen defended him. Nyoni was
accused of poor positioning. Against Uganda, he was substituted during the half-time break. Is it a case of Nyoni below par performance or a case of a tactical imbalance, a tactical gamble by Poulsen that is not paying off?
Previously, Poulsen used to employ two wide men, Ngassa and Msuva who provided cover for the
fullbacks, Kapombe and Nyoni . With Ngassa suspension against Ivory Coast, Kim Poulsen tactically
gambled by not fielding any wide man. Without the support of wingers, our defence was severely tested and found out. Nyoni and Kapombe had the unenviable task of marauding forward to attack and equally defend against top class opponents. Nyoni, in particular covered the most distance shuttling between attack and defence.

Poulsen expected Nyoni and Kapombe to play like Dani Alves and Marcelo without giving them any
cover, Kapombe ,perhaps being younger and a more natural defender can manage the forward and
backward shuttling. On the other hand, Nyoni is not young , has a tendency to overlap and being caught out of position. He delivers excellent crosses but does not have the energy to run back to his position
Perhaps playing according to the coach’s instruction, Nyoni rarely ventured forward against Uganda.It was a complete disaster, without the cover of a wide man, he was disastrously exposed on the right channel. Uganda made the right flank a free-flowing highway . Brian Majwega had the match of his life as he danced around Nyoni with a sure glee of one who knew he could do whatever he wanted.
Things were different on the left side where Ngassa provided cover for Kapombe. Predictably all Taifa Stars attacks were through the left channel where Ngassa restricted Nico Wadada deep into his zone.Kapombe could afford to overlap and emerged with his reputation intact. After the introduction of David Luhende, Kapombe switched places and appeared vulnerable till the introduction of Haruna Chanongo.With Chanongo introduction, Taifa appeared a different side going forward.

Should Nyoni be blamed for not fitting into a system that is being employed by a coach who ought to know his limitation? Unfortunately, Kapombe will miss the return leg so Nyoni is a sure candidate for the right fullback position. Kim Poulsen ought to employ his troop fully knowing well their technical and tactical limitation to avoid conceding soft goals.