High Court dismisses Yanga midfielder’s Sh1bn claim against Simba sponsors

Dar es Salaam. The High Court’s sub-registry in Dar es Salaam has dismissed a Sh1 billion compensation lawsuit filed by Yanga Sports Club midfielder Jonas Mkude against Mohamed Enterprises (Tanzania) Limited (METL).

The court ruling, issued on October 30, 2024, by Judge Phillip Butamo, found that Mkude did not sufficiently demonstrate that METL had used his image without authorisation for commercial purposes.

Mkude, who previously played for Simba Sports Club before joining Yanga SC in July 2023, contended that METL unlawfully used his image for promotional activities on social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter).

The claim suggested that the images used in METL’s promotional content infringed upon his economic and privacy rights, given that he was no longer affiliated with Simba SC when the advertisements appeared.

Mkude further argued that his current contract with Yanga restricts him from engaging in promotional activities with external entities without the club's explicit consent.

According to the agreement, any club wishing to utilise his image for commercial purposes would need to pay Yanga SC a fee of $100,000.

METL’s defence, however, asserted that the usage of Mkude’s image was legitimate under a sponsorship and marketing agreement between its affiliate, A-One Product and Bottlers Limited, and Simba SC.

As Mkude was a Simba player at the time the images were produced, METL maintained that their use was fully compliant with the terms of the sponsorship agreement in place.

METL consequently denied any responsibility to compensate Mkude, requesting the court to dismiss the case.

In his ruling, Judge Butamo stated that the evidence clearly supported METL’s position, confirming that the company was authorised to use images of Simba players, including Mkude, under the terms of the sponsorship contract.

Judge Butamo clarified that the images in question, which depicted Mkude in a Simba jersey, were lawfully obtained during his tenure with Simba, where he had consented to the club’s right to utilise his image for commercial activities.

"The evidence presented clearly shows that the defendant, as Simba’s sponsor, was authorised to use images of Simba players, including the claimant’s,” Judge Butamo stated in his ruling.

The ruling indicated that Mkude’s previous employment agreement provided for image usage by Simba for promotional purposes.

The court thus dismissed Mkude’s claim, stating that he had failed to substantiate his allegations against METL to the legal standard required.

As a result, the court ordered Mkude to bear the legal costs incurred by METL in defence of the case.