The league managers have revealed six match officials will take charge of the Kariakoo Derby set for Mkapa Stadium on Saturday
Tanzania Premier League Board (TPLB) has confirmed six referees will be in charge of the Mainland Premier League derby between Young Africans (Yanga SC) and Simba SC on Saturday.
The Kariakoo Derby, which was the first meeting between the two giants in the 2020-21 campaign, was originally set for October 18, 2020, but it was moved to November 7, 2020, and will be played at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium.
TPLB CEO Almas Kasongo has confirmed the derby will have two extra referees to make sure that all the teams and both sets of fans are satisfied with the outcome at the end of the whistle.
“We have added two extra referees for the derby, so we will have six referees in total to officiate the match on Saturday,” Kasongo told Goal on Wednesday.
“The two extra referees will be at the end of both sides of the goal-posts like it happens in Europe, and they will assist the centre referee and also the two assistants, plus the match commissioner making it six officials for the match.
“We have also made sure that security will be provided during and after the derby so we want to urge as many fans as possible to come for the match, it is the first derby of the season and we hope to see a good match.”
Last season, the two giants met three times, with the first round ending in a 2-2 draw before Yanga turned on the screw to win the second round fixture 1-0, but they again faced off in the semi-finals of the FA Cup where Simba won 4-1.
The Wekundu wa Msimbazi then went ahead to seal a season double – winning the Community Shield, the league, and the domestic cup – after beating Namungo FC 2-1 in the final played in Sumbawanga, Rukwa.
The Simba versus Yanga rivalry, also known as the Kariakoo Derby, is a high-profile inter-city rivalry between Tanzania professional association football clubs Simba and Yanga.
It is considered to be one of the biggest rivalries in association football in Africa along with the Soweto Derby in South Africa (Kaizer Chief vs Orlando Pirates), Cairo Derby in Egypt (Al Ahly vs Zamalek) and is considered the most famous fixture in Tanzanian football.
While Simba will still have their coach Sven Vandenbroeck for the derby, Yanga will have a new man – Cedric Kaze – in charge of the team after they fired Belgian Luc Eymael at the end of the last campaign and later Zlatko Krmpotic after 37 matches in charge of the club.
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