Simba unveil huge budget for 2023/24 league season

Dar es Salaam. Simba SC, a Mainland Premier League heavyweight, will spend Sh13.7 billion on the 2023/2024 season, The Citizen can reveal.

Suleiman Kahumbu, the club’s head of financial department, stated during the club’s general meeting held at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre (JNICC) that the sum is likely to be raised from various sources as well as sponsorships.

According to Kahumbu, the club will spend at least Sh2.4 billion on player registration alone.

“Vunja Bei will provide Sh 725 million, Azam Television rights cost Sh2.5 billion, League radio broadcast rights cost Sh410 million, and there are funds from other places,” he added.

He said that there is a budget shortage of Sh3.9 billion that the club’s honorary president, Mohammed ‘Mo’ Dewji, has filled, and that they will spend more than Sh2.8 billion on player salaries and other club personnel.

He also stated that the players’ incentives would cost Sh840 million, while residence permits and licences for the technical bench would cost Sh189 million.

According to Kahumbu, the Sh578 million will be used to cover a variety of expenses, including the hiring of the club’s office, local and international transportation, and player allowances.

“We have allocated more than Sh26 million to cover car maintenance, and Sh500 million will be used for the players and staffs during the residential camps,” he said, adding that the previous season’s budget was Sh11.9 billion, which was approved by the club’s last general meeting, and the club managed to collect Sh12.7 billion, of which Sh2 billion was donated by Dewji. He further said that during the previous season, the club spent over Sh4.38 billion on salary for players and other employees, while senior team camp cost them Sh2.2 billion.

Kahumbu said that the expenses for the women’s team known as the Simba Queens were Sh199 million, while Sh2.6 billion was paid for the players’ allowances and bonuses based on their achievement in the league and other competitions.

In addition, the squad paid Sh1 billion for player registration.