The Tanzania national women's football team, is the national team of Tanzania and is controlled by the Tanzania Football Federation. They are nicknamed the Twiga Stars.
The Twiga Stars qualified for their first CAF Women's Championship finals on 5 June 2010, after defeating Eritrea 11–4 on aggregate.[2]
In the first round of the African Championship, Tanzania defeated Eritrea on aggregate 11–4. The Twiga Stars won 8–1 in Dar es Salaam on 23 May and drew 3–3 in Asmara on 5 June.
After the Twiga Stars' success in qualifying for the African Championship finals in South Africa, a Tanzanian businesswoman, Rahma Al-Kharoosi, sponsored them to train in the United States for two weeks in August 2010.[5] Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete donated 53 million Tanzanian shillings (approximately US$30,000) on 9 June to cover training camp expenses and allowances before the championship tournament.[6]
Tanzania lost all three games in Group A of the African Championship, to host South Africa 2–1 on 31 October,[7] Mali 3–2 on 4 November,[8] and Nigeria 3–0 on 7 November.
Tanzania qualified for the 2011 All-Africa Games in Maputo when its opponents in the qualifying rounds, Kenya, Uganda, and Sudan, declined to play.[10] The Twiga Stars finished in third place in the four-team Group B at the games. They lost to Ghana 2–1 on 5 September, drew with South Africa 2–2 on 8 September, and drew with Zimbabwe 2–2 on 11 September.
In the preliminary round of the 2012 African Women's Championship, Tanzania defeated Namibia 2–0 in Windhoek on 14 January[11] and 5–2 in Dar es Salaam on 29 January.[12] In the first round, Tanzania lost to Ethiopia 2–1 in Addis Ababa on 27 May[13] and 1–0 in Dar es Salaam on 16 June.[14] Tanzania thus failed to qualify for the finals of the African Championship in Equatorial Guinea. The head coach, Charles Boniface Mkwasa, resigned two days after the last match with Ethiopia,[15] and the following day, Nasra Mohammed, the assistant coach, blamed inadequate financial support from the Tanzania Football Federation for the failure to advance.[16]
On 21 June, Mkwasa admitted that he had dismissed several players from the team after discovering that they had engaged in homosexual acts.
It is true that some of the players engaged themselves in homosexuality, but we removed them from the team as soon as we learnt of their behaviour. We took the decision regardless of the player's ability and contribution in the team. There is this problem that these players want to behave like their male counterparts, because they play football, they want to look like men players. But I have always been very tough on this. I have been talking to them, trying to counsel them on how they should behave and I think there is tremendous change on that area and of course their discipline is generally good.[17]
At a subsequent news conference, Mkwasa claimed he had been misquoted. Lina Mhando, the chairperson of Tanzania Women Football, called it a "non-existing scandal" and said there is no concrete proof of the allegations. The team manager, Furaha Francis, said that regardless of whether the scandal exists, it has been blown out of proportion and that there is no proof to substantiate the allegations.[18]
2 (16 August 2024)[1]
Eritrea 2–3 Tanzania 
South Africa 6–1 Tanzania 
Togo 
South Sudan 
Mali 
Tunisia 
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Champions: 2021
