Friday, January 11, 2008

Tanzania:lack of diesel.affect Zanzibar's Mapinduzi Cup

Zanzibar Football Association officials have been accused of misusing fuel allocated for emergency services in the ongoing Mapinduzi Cup tournament.

Zanzibar Red Cross officials, who were supposed to use about 20 litres of fuel daily during the course of the championship, said their ambulance had been grounded for lack of diesel.


But the ZFA Urban District secretary, Nassor Salim Ali, who is also the tournament coordinator, said there was no agreement on the allocation of fuel for the Red Cross vehicle.

"This is news to me and I strongly deny any suggestions linking me to misuse of fuel," he said.

He added that there were people who were intent on undermining the association as it strived to stage a successful championship.

"These are allegations aimed at tarnishing the image of ZFA and its leaders. There are people who do not wish to see us staging a successful Mapinduzi Cup, and these are the sources of these wild allegations," he said.

The Red Cross officials, who asked not to be named, said they had not been given fuel for their ambulance since the championship kicked off earlier this week.

They said a top ZFA official took the entire fuel allocation that was supposed to be used during the match between Zanzibar Police and Young Africans on Tuesday.

"We cannot render emergency services because of lack of fuel caused by the ZFA officials"We are keeping the vehicle at the stadium because it contains expensive medical equipment, otherwise it was of no use to park it here," one of the officials said.

He said ZFA officials who were taking the Red Cross fuel also had their own allocation.

The Mapinduzi Cup, which has attracted eight teams, is scheduled to end on Sunday.

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