NSC should track sports associations

The National Sports Council (NSC) should keep a closer look at all sports associations to ensure they conduct elections properly, orderly and in time.

The recent revelations with regard to failure of the Tanzania Tennis Association (TTA) to hold elections with interim leadership staying for more than a decade, leaves much to be desired.

The TTA has been duly registered by the National Sports Council but the interim leadership entrusted to oversea the body’s activities exceeded the three month grace period before hitting a full decade in power. What a shame for both the council as well as the tennis association!

What befell the council remains a misery and prompts more questions than answers.

Why and how did the sports council fail to act on the mistakes and deliberate skipping to hold election by the tennis association?

We have several times heard urgent notices and orders by the council as it has frequently been alert to follow up elections of football clubs particularly Simba and Young Africans.

We are, indeed, disturbed and fail to comprehend why the council decided to go on leave as TTA failed to draft its own constitution for more than ten years. This, in our view, exhibits a lack of seriousness.

Going back to the reasons given by the TTA interim leadership in connection with the failure to hold elections, again it shows those leaders entrusted to carry out the duties have messed up beyond tolerable limits.

How can an association with full registration to the NSC operate without a valid constitution as well as skipping elections for over a decade?

When athletes or players do fail at international meet there has always been an excuse of poor preparations. However, with sick leaders at the helm how do we expect to have successful teams winning medals or accolades at high-profile international events?

It’s high time we became organised and keep our houses clean before opening the door and greet our neighbours.

Tennis game has been in the doldrums for a decade now with unstable and shoddy leadership behind the crippling standard.

The leadership ‘scar’ picked in the last ten years would take long time to heal as the tennis game would be struggling to peak up.

Probably the biggest drawback was the loss of an opportunity for Tanzania to gain advantage of establishing an academy with full support from the International tennis Federation (ITF).

The incumbent TTA leadership has been responsible for throwing overboard this rare opportunity through disorganisation.

Though we can not attain success overnight, the game of tennis would have been at a different standard had there been leaders with vision, will and determination to work with diligence and enthusiasm.

Where are those millions of dollars donated by the ITF and how have they being spent to develop tennis?

It is a shame that while the ITF has been ready to assist in construction of tennis courts for public use, this opportunity has been grossly dumped.

Better late than never is a saying that has now to be adopted should we need to revive tennis and have strong and serious leaders.