Simba, Azam to camp abroad

Dar es Salaam. Plans are on for Mainland giants Simba and Azam FC to camp abroad ahead of next season’s Vodacom Premier League.

Azam, who have vowed to wrest the league title from Young Africans next season, will camp in Johannesburg, South Africa while Simba intend to pitch camp in Nairobi, Kenya.

Azam head coach Stewart Hall confirmed yesterday that the ice-cream makers would leave for Johannesburg early August for a series of friendly matches.

“Our decision to camp in South Africa stems from the fact that we want to wrest the title next season and represent Tanzania in the Africa Champions League,” Hall said.

“We expect to leave for Johannesburg on August 1 or 2,” the British tactician, whose side finished second in the past two seasons, added.

He said they would face leading teams during their stay in South Africa. He fell short of naming the sides.

Simba, on the other hand, are expected to head to Kenya on July 15 for a two-week camp that will see them spur with teams from Kenya’s first and second tiers.

Football Kenya Federation technical committee chairman, Elly Mukolwe, was quoted as saying from Nairobi yesterday that they had received official communication from Simba.

“They (Simba) will set base in Mumias where they will be training at the Mumias Complex. We have gone ahead to arrange and confirm their accommodation plans.

“While here, they will play four friendly games against Western teams and we have identified two Premier League teams and two from the lower division,” he said.

He said they have picked on Western Stima and Kakamega Homeboyz as well as West Kenya Sugar and Nzoia United from the division One

“We are, however, yet to set dates for the games. Once they arrive, this will be worked on. We will have a look at league schedules first for all the teams before confirming the dates,” said Mukolwe. Meanwhile, Azam FC have extended contracts of three players Salum Abubakar and Ivorian twins Kipre Balou and Kipre Tchetche by two years each.

The club’s secretary general, Nassor Mohammed, said that they awarded the players lengthy contracts in a bid to avert interest from other clubs.

“It is clear that we need such players on the team. These are very senior players and you cannot dare have them on short contracts,” he said.

Abubakar, popularly known as Sure Boy, joined Azam in 2006, while Tchetche was signed in 2010 and was the league’s top-scorer last season, having netted eight times. His twin, Balou, was signed in 2011.