TRADITIONAL rivals Simba and Young Africans may forever miss the comfort of the imposing National Stadium as the government contemplates banning the teams from using the sports complex.

“These teams will not be allowed to use the National Stadium until further notice, if possible they may be banned forever,” Information, Culture, Arts and Sports Minister, Nape Nnauye, declared in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

The harsh government’s decision follows massive vandalism and destruction of properties in the stadium during the high tension match that pitted the two teams in Dar es Salaam on Saturday.

The destruction of 1,781 chairs and four gates has come as the stadium management considers fixing security cameras to monitor spectators, ably trace and take legal measures against individuals wrecking the infrastructure of the sports ground. Minister Nnauye, speaking to reporters yesterday, said President John Magufuli was real angry over the damage.

“The president called me yesterday (on Saturday) after the incident, saying he was saddened and wondered why fans should express their anger by destroying the infrastructure of the stadium.”

He said the bad behaviour of destroying the facilities was getting chronic because only the clubs were being punished. “From now onwards, we are going to install cameras to identify those involved in indecency,” he said.

The minister briefed journalists at the stadium shortly before assessing the magnitude of the damage, believed to have been done by Simba supporters at the match that attracted over 43,000 spectators, with at least 350m/- collected.