Tanzania: Rage Gives Solutions to Chama Transfer Row
By Benjamin Ben
Former Simba SC Chairman Ismail Rage said the plight of Young Africans Vice-Chairman Fredrick Mwakalebela over Clatous Chama transfer saga lies in the player himself.
Lately, Mwakalebela has been making headlines in the country following his remarks that Yanga were in discussion with Chama in a move to hijack the creative Simba midfielder despite him having an extended contract with the Reds until 2021.
Mwakalebela has since apologised, saying he was just making fun of the situation taking advantage of the traditional rivalry of the two oldest clubs in the country but that could not stop Simba to drag the matter to the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) for further action.
Speaking yesterday in an interview, Rage said Chama is the key witness of the case, insisting that the way he will respond will determine whether to proceed with the matter or drop it altogether.
"I think at this juncture, TFF will summon Mwakalebela to clarify on the development and afterwards, they will also seek to hear Chama's comments.
"If Chama agrees that he really talked with Mwakalebela, then the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) will be requested to intervene and see if the two parties really held talks," Rage said.
He added that in case it turns out that the two sides discussed over the transfer deal, then Yanga will be heavily punished, saying it is a serious offence to talk with a player about possible transfer if his remaining contract is more than six months.
"I think Mwakalebela should talk to Simba for them to drop the case before it can go further if he knows that he communicated with Chama otherwise, things will be hard for him and his club," he said.
Again, the ex-Simba chairman noted that sometimes leaders of big teams in the country tend to come up with false claims aimed at winning hearts of their fans and at the same time, cause panic to the opposite side.
Mwakalebela was quoted saying that Chama's contract was due to expire in July this year according to his agent. In his reaction, Simba Information Officer Haji Manara insisted that Chama's contract will run up to July next year.
"Last season, we extended contracts of some players in the squad including that of Chama and Meddie Kagere that is why we are surprised to hear an experienced person like Mwakalebela making such claims.
"I admit that I do make fun with Yanga over some issues but not serious matters like the one made by him (Mwakalebela)," Manara said.
However, in his apology statement, Mwakalebela said after claims which went viral that Simba were on the verge of signing Yanga captain Papy Tshishimbi, which he said caused panic among Yanga fans, he also decided to make fun of Chama transfer saga.
"Let me take this opportunity to apologise to Simba for the claims I made over Chama. To be honest, I have never talked with him and that if we wanted him at Yanga, then proper procedures could have been followed," he said.
This article originally appeared in Daily News