Newly promoted African Lyon face holders Young Africans in one of the 2009/10 Mainland premier league opening six matches that kicks off at the Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam on August 23.
All twelve teams will be busy on the opening day in six venues scattered across the country, according to the fixtures released by the Tanzania Football Federation yesterday.
Yanga’s rivals Simba, who finished runners up in the previous season, will travel all the way to Songea where they are paired to meet hosts Majimaji.
Majimaji, who were at their best during the mid 80s, have rejoined premiership berth and will be gunning to rekindle their brilliance to meet satisfaction of their fans.
Manyema Rangers, who also won premiership promotion after spending a year in the first division, will play Mtibwa Sugar at Manungu Stadium in Morogoro.
Tanzania Prisons will host visiting JKT Ruvu at their Sokoine Stadium in Mbeya while Azam FC have to meet Kagera Sugar at the Kaitaba Stadium in Bukoba.
The opening day fixtures will be concluded with a match between Toto Africa and Morogoro United at the CCM Kirumba Stadium in Mwanza.
The rivals clash between Simba and Young Africans will be played at the penultimate round of the first half of the league fixtures on October 31 at Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam.
Simba will be hosting Young Africans and the match might be played on the New Stadium depending on the prevailing circumstances with crowd control as the major subject behind the probable decision.
The return leg match of the rivals is also scheduled on the penultimate round on March 14 at the same venue.
The first half of the league winds up on November 8 as teams would rest for almost two months before it resumes again on January 16.
The league reaches its final on March 27 with six matches on the menu. African Lyon and JKT Ruvu will have to travel all the way to Dodoma to play their final match at the Jamhuri Stadium.
The fixtures have been arranged in such a way that it accommodates all important aspects where teams would be involved in CAF tournaments, Senior Challenge Cup, African nations Cup and CHAN qualifiers and all other international tourneys.
TFF’s information officer Florian Kaijage said some changes might be made on the fixtures depending on the prevailing circumstances and sporting eventualities.
Twelve teams are competing in the league played on home and away basis, three points for a win, one apiece for draw and no point to the losing side.
Kaijage said no team would play more than two matches ahead of the other or the rest. Teams have been scheduled to play away matches in such a way that they minimize cost for prudent use of their resources.
Winners of the league would represent Mainland in the Confederations of African Football champions league while runners up is for the Confederations Cup.
Yanga, who retained the title last season ahead of runners-up Simba, are to represent Mainland in the Champions League next year.
Simba would feature in the Confederations Cup. CAF is yet to release the fixture which might affect the Mainland premiership schedule.
