Mrisho Ngassa

Troubled Mrisho Ngasa, who has been involved in a controversial transfer saga after the Kagame Cup championship, is supposed to come to terms with his new club Simba.

Azam FC had put Ngasa on the transfer market soon after the end of the Kagame Cup when the ice-cream makers finished runners-up to eventual winners Young Africans last Saturday in Dar es Salaam.

 The ice-cream makers put up a price tag of 50m/- for any club interested in the player and Simba won the bid with half of the amount.

Relations between Ngasa and Azam soured when the player openly kissed and put on Young Africans’  jersey at the National Stadium in Dar es salaam after the first Kagame Cup semi-final ended in favour of Azam with a 2-1 victory over AS Vita.

Ngasa had scored the winner in a match that preceded the second semi-final as Yanga took on Rwanda’s APR and won.

Ngasa, who grabbed the last-gasp winner over AS Vita to storm into the final, came in as a substitute.

The player also came from the bench during the final against Yanga but would not repeat the heroics as Azam went down by 2-0 goals to lose the title.
 
Azam FC team manager Patrick Kahemele, in his press release availed yesterday, said Ngasa had to choose between rotting on the bench should he remain with Azam or join Simba for the 25m/- transfer bid.

Yanga were beaten on the transfer bid by a difference of five million shillings to miss the signature of the player whom they earlier sold to Azam for 50m/- a season before the last.

 Kahemele said Azam would no longer tolerate Ngasa’s lack of patriotism for the club after the Kagame Cup incident and should he hesitate the loaned transfer move he risks rotting on the bench.

Ngasa, whose father featured for Simba during his final days of his football career, has decided to join the club instead of staying at Azam.

Azam FC, which won the promotion into the top flight berth during the 2008/9 season, has been shrugging off the underdog tag to edge Yanga and Simba in recent premiership matches.

The club finished runners up in the just ended Mainland soccer league season, their highest ever position since they gained promotion.

Regarded as a stable club with remarkable remuneration packages paid in time, Azam will feature in the Confederation of African Football league kicking off early next year.