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Open Letter to FIFA President

OPEN LETTER

Your Excellency Gianni Infantino
President
FIFA
Dar es salaam

Your Excellency Mr. President,

We are happy that you are currently putting your presence in our beautiful country and we would like to wish a FIFA Committee meeting in Zanzibar fruitful deliberations.

Just across Dar es salaam the Tanzania commercial city, there is The Zanzibar Archipelago where football is religion as sports in general is passion. Zanzibar has been making all the efforts to become FIFA member with no success. She has tried three times already.

Last December in high profile performance with special ambition to show the world,  and few months after “the in and out” of Confederation of African Football (CAF), Zanzibar against all the odds reached the final of East African Challenge CUP (CECAFA) and smiles are still on our faces for the achievement. With huge potential Zanzibar has been the backbone of the Tanzania National Team without the chances of representing herself in FIFA run competitions but also the CAF competitions

Zanzibar has been knocking the FIFA door since 2001 for the first time and the second in 2005 and has been rejected for reasons we do not believe warrant that rejection as we are able to demonstrate a lot of instances and situations where other territories have been welcomed into the world body.
Your Excellency Mr. President.

Zanzibar has tried to put her case before your honorable office to explain that sports in Tanzania is not an integral part of the Union arrangement that has been reached over half a century ago under The Articles of |Union, and thus each side of the Union has its own sporting arrangement including own Ministry, own individual sports sport bodies such as chess, basketball etc,  as well as own football association.

Tanzania is consisted of two partners  -Zanzibar on one side and Tanganyika on the other which took the name of Tanzania 1964 which legally is the UNION ITSELF. It is and has been a contradiction ever since.

We have been explaining that Tanzania Football Association (TFF) is not in actual fact a body fully and legally representing the Tanzania State, but rather TFF by its structure is only a body representing one side of the Union – legally known within our borders as Tanzania Mainland and formerly Tanganyika.

Probably from FIFA eyes and understanding it is not aware of this entity known as Tanzania Mainland, but it takes part in the East African Challenge Cup, a yearly tournament and where Zanzibar takes part on her own status – thus Tanzania sends two teams.

Your Excellency Mr. President

Under Union arrangement the Minister of Sports and Culture Dr. Harison Mwakyembe is not a Union Minister per se, and this because the name and status of Tanzania is invoked to represent the whole territory of Tanzania whilst the truth it only refers to the above term of Tanzania Mainland, probably you know it for the first time and is the gist of the whole problem in the Union. Zanzibar has her own Sports Minister.

Hence this is to say Zanzibar is not at all represented in the TFF. According to TFF Constitution its membership is drawn from regions making the land known as Tanzania Mailnad - only. 

Furthermore, no Zanzibari is allowed to vie for any position in the TFF, again a true indication TFF is only for Tanzania Mainland and not the whole of Tanzania which will encompass Zanzibar.

Your Excellency Mr. President

Until today TFF conducts no single football business in Zanzibar. It runs a Tanzania Mainland League, runs no development programs in Zanzibar as well.

Zanzibar runs her own league with clubs representing the Islands in Africa Club competitions where Zanzibar is an invitee. It was accepted as 55th Member last year but the decision was rescinded few months later. 

FIFA has refused Zanzibar application for want of statehood for the 1.4m entity whereas British Virgin Island, American Virgin Island, Pueto Rico, Macau, Hong Kong, Liechstein and others are not United Nations Members but are still FIFA Members.

If the condition of becoming a FIFA Member is to be a state and statehood is recognized by being a member of the United Nations, than how comes that United Nations has 193 members whilst FIFA has 213 members?

Zanzibar has a fully grown and blown administrative system including own Legislature, Presidency and Judiciary and not only conducts a full senior league but has youth programs named Juvenile, Junior and Central League as well as beach and women soccer leagues.

We believe we have a good case only that FIFA has not fully heard our case on merit. Under the current Union arrangement Zanzibar will never be represented by Tanzania for us to accept. 
                      

Ally Saleh
Member of Parliament 
Malindi Constituency
Zanzibar
Email: allysaleh126@gmail.com
+255 777 430022  - + 255 715 430022
Twitter : @allysalehznz

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