Game On Reporter
WHILE celebrations in Shamva are yet to die down, newly crowned Premier Soccer League champions Simba Bhora, already have some tough decisions to make.
There’s talk that club owner, Simba “Buju” Ndoro, is contemplating pulling out of next year’s TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.
The Champions League, Ndoro fears, could drain his finances.
For Simba Bhora to participate in the continental inter-club competition, they have to comply with CAF Club Licensing requirements, which include assembling a women’s football team and setting up a proper secretariat.
Wadzanai Stadium in Shamva can also not host CAF matches even if bucket seats are to be installed because the goalposts were not placed according to standard rules.
Simba Bhora are also set to lose coach Tonderai Ndiraya and a number of key players including Soccer Star of the Year favourite Walter Musona, to cash-rich and newly promoted side Scottland FC.
“The club owner has been doing a lot of soul searching in the past few days.
“He is weighing the gains of participating in the CAF Champions League against the massive investment required,” a source said.
“Don’t be surprised if Ndoro announces that his team will not play Champions League football,” added the source.
Apart from Musona, several other players like Vassili Kawe, Mtokhozisi Msebe, Tichaona Chipunza and giant goalie Talbert Shumba are also set to join Scottland FC.
However, Simba Bhora spokesperson Charles Nyatsine, is confident the club will still soldier on.
“There is no social position yet, even though as a club, we will not stand in the way of anyone who wishes to pursue their future elsewhere.
“If we have players who want to leave, we will let them go.
“Even if the coach leaves, it means we will have to bring in a new coach and the players he wants to play in the team,” Nyatsine was quoted in the media.
By winning PSL title, Simba Bhora joined St Paul’s Musami, Ngezi Platinum, and FC Platinum as the only teams outside Harare and Bulawayo to have won the country’s top flight league title.
They added another chapter to the local game when they became the first club to provide five players on the Castle Soccer Stars calendar.
Musona, Tymon Machope, Blessing “Bisto” Moyo, Isheanesu Mauchi and Webster Tafa are on the 2024 calendar.
The Soccer Star of the Year will be revealed on Friday, with Musona the odds on favourite to win a second gong with a different club, having done so with FC Platinum in 2022
