Young Africans (Yanga SC) coach Luc Eymael has welcomed the decision by world governing body Fifa to allow five substitutions as a temporary measure when football resumes after being halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Fifa has proposed upping the number of substitutes allowed in 90 minutes from three to five - with a sixth in extra time of knock-out games - to help combat potential injuries with more games to be squeezed into a shorter amount of time after the break occasioned by Covid-19.
In Tanzania, Yanga are still chasing the Mainland Premier League title and are also in the race to clinch the domestic Cup where they have reached the quarter-final stage.
And with the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) working on modalities to resume the league, the Belgian coach has welcomed Fifa's decision, saying it will help coaches plan well for the remainder of the season.
“We have to prepare the players for two weeks’ minimum before restarting the league and then in the preparations, we can include one or two friendlies to help players’ regain fitness,” Eymael told Goal on Tuesday.
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“I think it is also a good thing that TFF should apply the new rule by Fifa [if they will implement it], to be able to use five substitutions instead, of three substitutions, it is a very good idea because we will be playing on Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday or even Tuesday, something like that, and it will be a very good idea if we can apply that rule.”
Eymael has also assured the club's fans he will return to Tanzania when the airport ban imposed by the government is lifted.
“I am just waiting for the airport in Dar es Salaam to reopen before I travel to Tanzania. When it [airport] opens I will fly back directly because I have been told they are already working on ways to resume the league like other Europe countries and I think it is good to resume the league," he continued.
“I don’t think it was difficult in Africa to resume the leagues, if in Italy where they had a lot of coronavirus cases have set a date to start the league, and England also had a lot of cases, but they are set to resume the league, so I don’t understand why other countries [especially in Africa] cannot start the league, it is the easiest thing to do, to resume the leagues.”
At the time the league took a break, Yanga were third on the table with 51 points from 27 games, while Azam FC were second on 54 points from 28 matches.
Simba SC are leading the log on 71 points and enjoy a 20-point gap ahead of rivals Yanga and are likely to win the crown if the league resumes.