Tanzania: Simba, Banka Row Deepens

Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam)

18 July 2011

MAINLAND soccer giants, Simba, have ordered the team’s players, who objected to their loan move to other top flight sides, to terminate their respective contracts with the Msimbazi Street side and pay compensations.

The team’s Information Officer, Ezekiel Kamwaga, said the order has been issued by the leadership following the decision by the said players to refuse honouring their loan moves, which aims at restructuring the squad.

Simba recently announced to loan seven of their players to other Mainland Premier League teams, in which midfielder Mohamed Banka, striker Mohamed Kijuso and defender Haruna Shamte were loaned to the promoted outfit, Villa Squad.

Others are winger Aziz Gilla and Mbwana Bakari, who have been loaned to Coastal Union of Tanga while defenders, Juma Jabu and Meshack Abel, have headed to African Lyon and Ruvu Shooting Stars respectively.

In a dramatic turn of events, though, three players, Abel, Banka and Jabu, were recently heard in the local media refusing to honour their loan moves because they were not involved in their club’s decision.

They, on separate occasions, said the loan moves were not in the best interest of their soccer careers because they (players) were not consulted on the matter and were not at all in favour of the moves.

Kamwaga said Banka and fellows should reconsider their decisions before making any other move as the loan move does not mean the players have been axed from Simba. The Simba official said the players will continue to receive their monthly salaries and other benefits according to the contracts they signed with the club.

He said, failure by the seven players to abide by the loan move therefore requires them to voluntarily terminate their contracts with the club and compensate the latter.

Simba Chairman, Ismail Aden Rage, in a recent interview with the local media, said the players, who have been released to other clubs on loan, have no other choice but comply with the move otherwise, he said, they will be breaching their respective contracts with Simba.

Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) Legal, Ethics and Players Committee Chairman, Alex Mgongolwa, also concurred with Rage on the matter, saying the players have to abide to the contracts they signed with their club, and the objection to the loan move implies the failure to honour the contracts.

Kamwaga also said Simba’s head coach, Ugandan Moses Basena, arrived in the city on Monday and the team’s leadership was waiting for his report on the team’s performance in the Kagame Castle Cup, which ended in Dar es Salaam a fortnight ago with the Msimbazi Street side finishing second to champions and rivals, Yanga.

The official further said the team is expected to start training in the city tomorrow and Basena’s recommendations on the training programmes will be duly fulfilled by the leadership.

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