Tanzania’s Premier League: Jet-lagged teams outcry tight schedules between matches – The Tanzania Times

Compacted schedules with limited time in between games is said to be taking a major toll among some team players in the ongoing NBC Premier League matches.

The Young Africans FC of Dar-es-salaam (Yanga) which had just played against one of the resident teams in Arusha, has complained of being constrained with time in the apex league.

“We have to squeeze time between travel and play again, sometimes our players get fatigued,” lamented the Young African (Yanga) coach, Pedro Gonçalves.

The coach pointed out that in most cases they usually get less than 72 hours between games and sometimes have to face teams that have had all week to rest and prepare.

For instance, Yanga travelled from Dar-es-salaam to the Northern Zone where they played against TRA United in Arusha City on Wednesday, the 18^th of March 2026 where they managed a draw match 0-0.

But within less than three days, the team is supposed to travel to Dodoma, where Yanga gets to face the Mtibwa Football Club on Saturday, the 21^st of March.

It should also be recalled that, before catching a bus to Arusha, Yanga had previously again played against Azam FC in Dar-es-salaam on Sunday, the 15th of March.

He said the situation is not easy but they were trying their best to keep up with good work and have managed to complete the first round of the premier league at the top.

As for the reported waterlogged pitch in Arusha, the Young African coach said they had anticipated the challenge at the Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium, so it wasn’t much of a problem for them.

The Arusha stadium suffered waterlogged pitch to an extent of forcing the management to call off the match which was to be played between Simba Sports Club of Dar-es-salaam and TRA United.

“It is now left for us to focus on the next match because we do not have much time,” concluded coach Gonçalves.

On his part, the TRA United Coach, Etienne Ndayiragije, a team which played against Yanga in Arusha, said it was the first time for the club to play against a rather big and well-established team from Dar-es-salaam.

“We appreciate the support from our fans and despite the pitch problems, our boys did their best to draw against Yanga,” said the TRA United Coach.

The match produced a star player in the person of Ramadhan Chobwedo an attacking midfielder from the TRA United team, who said they had really respected the Yanga players based on their experiences but was glad that he emerged the ‘Man of the Match!’