Players dishonouring contracts a wake-up call for Tanzania Football Federation

Dar es Salaam.  A troubling trend is emerging in Tanzanian football: players dishonouring their contracts. While this issue is not new, its impact has grown severe over time.

In 2000, the case of Ephraim Makoye—who registered with both Yanga and Simba SC—exposed the chaos in player registration.

 At that time, the Football Association of Tanzania (FAT) lacked clear contract regulations and struggled to manage such disputes, leading to a significant mishandling of Makoye's case.

 FAT provided registration forms for clubs to list their players for matches, marking those approved as 'CLEARED' and those not approved as 'NOT CLEARED.'

Makoye’s name appeared on both Yanga’s and Simba’s lists, leading to his 'NOT CLEARED' status. By the time the registration forms were reviewed, Yanga’s submission was considered first, while Simba’s was deemed faulty.

Simba presented a contract with Makoye dated before Yanga's registration. However, FAT rejected the contract, as player contracts were not recognized by the football governing body at the time. Consequently, FAT instructed Makoye to join Yanga, despite Simba having a valid contract with him.

Such issues were not isolated. For instance, in 1980, national team player Mtemi Ramadhan registered with four different teams—Waziri Mkuu SC, Pan Africa SC, Simba SC, and Yanga SC—creating significant controversy upon his return from the AFCON finals in Nigeria.

Today, the Tanzania Football Association (TFF), which succeeded FAT, adheres to FIFA regulations. While the issue of players registering with multiple teams has largely been resolved, a new problem has arisen: players failing to honor their contracts.

The problem of players registering with multiple teams has significantly been reduced, but a new phenomenon has emerged where players fail to honor the contracts they signed.

Disputes between players and clubs over contracts or interpretations of contract clauses have become very common.

A vivid example is that of the dispute between striker Feisal Salum and his former club, Yanga, or the dispute between striker Prince Dube and his former club, Azam FC.

All in all, the football governing body in the country should wake up and take appropriate steps to ward off this unwelcome trend by some players.

This is for the sake of the development of Tanzanian football which has earned the respect of the football fans of the continent and of the globe in general.