TO the utter disappointment of their vast fan base, Young Africans (Yanga) sadly were edged 1-0 by AS FAR of Morocco in a tough Group B match-up last weekend of this season’s concluding CAF Champions League’s Group Stage.

Despite suffering this huge blow, Young Africans’ diminishing hopes of reaching the knockout round are still mathematically possible. 

However, in order to pull off this aforementioned terrific footballing feat, it is a must that Young Africans dare not put a foot wrong in their next Group B confrontation this coming weekend. 

While Young Africans continue intense training for their expected epic battle this weekend, Simba fans are all greatly distressed over the fact that their beloved football club will miss out on a priceless spot in the knockout round this season. 

Indeed, it has been a miserable campaign for the Msimbazi Street-based outfit in continental club football’s foremost championship. 

Just to illustrate the depths of mediocrity that Simba have descended into this season, the Tanzanian behemoths have shoddily not claimed even a single victory since the start of the group stage to date. 

Granted, Simba have drawn their last two vital Group D football contests, which equates to a measly two points. 

Frustratingly, Simba’s bad run of poor form has left the struggling football side painfully rooted to the bottom of Group D’s standings. 

So, while Simba will be seeking to regain some of their wounded pride in this weekend’s consequential round of matches, Young Africans will be going all out to secure an emphatic win while still fervently hoping that results go their way in another, key Group B meeting. 

Let us now put football aside and focus on local athletics, which is still understandably on a high after Alphonce Simbu’s herculean feat at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan last year. 

For those of you who are still wondering about what I am referring to, Simbu fantastically produced an exceptional display at the global athletics competition last year when he famously secured Tanzania’s first-ever gold medal in the history of one of the world’s most prestigious sporting extravaganzas. 

Competing in the men’s marathon event, Simbu was behind the race’s leader for a large chunk of the home stretch before dramatically catching up to his rival near the finish line and speeding past him to incredibly claim the gold medal by the slimmest of margins. 

Justifiably, Simbu was accorded a hero’s welcome when he returned home to an adoring public last year. 

Disturbingly, though, there has been a worrying lack of meaningful investment in local athletics in the ensuing months of Simbu’s grand achievement. 

This deeply dissatisfying status quo should offer us cause for enormous concern. 

One would hope then that the powers that-be in domestic athletics will urgently seek to address this weighty matter. 

Since we are just two years ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, it would be hugely comforting for the wananchi to know that there are a few other local athletes who are eminently capable of winning medals in their respective events on the biggest stage in sports. 

Thus, it is hoped that meaningful investment in local athletics will happen apace in order to demonstrate that Simbu’s fine accomplishment was not a flash in the pan.