Singida Fountain Gate FC handed fourth transfer ban

11Jan 2024
The Guardian Reporter
ZANZIBAR
Sport
The Guardian
Singida Fountain Gate FC handed fourth transfer ban

WORLD soccer governing body, FIFA, has handed Singida Fountain Gate FC another transfer ban, its fourth in less than the last three months, due to the club’s failure to clear salaries and dues.

 

In November last year, FIFA banned Singida Fountain Gate FC from registering new players due to a contract dispute involving Ghanaian wingback Nicholaus Gyan.

In early December, FIFA slapped the club with another ban due to a payment issue with Brazilian striker Rodrigo Carvalho.

In the same month, there was another ban for the NBC Premier League side following failure to pay Ivorian center-back Pascal Wawa his contract termination dues.

Wawa joined Singida Fountain Gate FC from Simba SC and spent one season before his release at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.

Now, there is another ban in place for the over-ambitious club. The latest ban was confirmed by TFF on Wednesday with the club in trouble for failure to pay Ugandan left full-back Shafik Batambuze.

The TFF disclosed in the statement: “NBC Premier League club, Singida Fountain Gate FC, has been banned from registering new players until they pay their former player Shafik Batambuze.”

The federation stated: “The decision has been made by the International Football Federation (FIFA) after the player won his case against the club.”

“The Ugandan player filed a case with FIFA demanding the payment of his signing on and salary arrears. The club was supposed to have paid him within 45 days since the decision was made, but it did not implement it,” TFF disclosed.

“While FIFA has banned the club from making international transfers, the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) has banned it from making domestic transfers.”

“TFF reminds clubs to respect the contracts that have been entered into with players and coaches to avoid various penalties including being banned from registration of players,” the statement from TFF read.

With only five days before the December-January transfer window closes, it remains to be seen if the club will be able to comply with the FIFA directive to beat the registration deadline.

Singida Fountain Gate FC earned their first-ever promotion to the NBC Premier League in the 2021/22 season. 

They finished second behind Ihefu SC to take the remaining automatic promotion ticket.

After earning topflight promotion, they changed the name from DTB FC to Singida Big Stars.

They finished fourth in the topflight debut season to earn a ticket in the CAF Confederation Cup.

At the start of this season, Singida Big Stars was officially sold to Dodoma-based Fountain Gate Academy. The team was rebranded as Singida Fountain Gate FC.

In an agreement by both parties in the sale agreement, the team remained in Singida and honour its domestic games at Liti Stadium in the region.

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