Simba FC now all-soldier team
Jul 20, 2009
ONLY officers and men of the UPDF will be eligible to play for army side Simba FC starting with the 2009/10 season. The outfit has vowed to discharge players not willing to be conscripted into the military.
By Swalley Kenyi
ONLY officers and men of the UPDF will be eligible to play for army side Simba FC starting with the 2009/10 season. The outfit has vowed to discharge players not willing to be conscripted into the military.
UPDF sports officials early this month issued a directive to have all sportsmen given army numbers to allow proper remuneration of the players among other reasons. However, the order is still being resisted by civilian players of Simba FC.
Army sports director Major Godfrey Muwanguzi yesterday reiterated the stance.
“We shall not cling onto them (players). They met the army authorities who explained to them the benefits of being in the UPDF,†Muwanguzi said.
He said unlike most super league clubs where players retire to nothing, a Simba player drafted into the UPDF would earn pension for the time of service as a Simba player.
A source said on Sunday the players are pessimistic for fear of being deployed to the battlefield. But Muwanguzi dismissed the worries arguing that ‘the UPDF is not short of manpower’.
ONLY officers and men of the UPDF will be eligible to play for army side Simba FC starting with the 2009/10 season. The outfit has vowed to discharge players not willing to be conscripted into the military.
UPDF sports officials early this month issued a directive to have all sportsmen given army numbers to allow proper remuneration of the players among other reasons. However, the order is still being resisted by civilian players of Simba FC.
Army sports director Major Godfrey Muwanguzi yesterday reiterated the stance.
“We shall not cling onto them (players). They met the army authorities who explained to them the benefits of being in the UPDF,†Muwanguzi said.
He said unlike most super league clubs where players retire to nothing, a Simba player drafted into the UPDF would earn pension for the time of service as a Simba player.
A source said on Sunday the players are pessimistic for fear of being deployed to the battlefield. But Muwanguzi dismissed the worries arguing that ‘the UPDF is not short of manpower’.