Just months after signing for Atraco Fc, Tanzanian striker Muhammad Athuman a.k.a Machupa, has rejoined Simba SC back in his native country. The Tanzanian international signed for the local giants before the start of last season’s league second round and featured in all 13 matches, scoring four times. One of the hottest strikers back in his native Tanzania, Machupa, 24, penned a two-year deal with Atraco after the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) slapped a six-month ban on him for not honoring contractual commitments. The ban promoted him to seek where he would resurrect his career and he ended up at Atraco but information reaching Times Sport from Dar es Salaam indicates that he has returned to Simba. Before joining Atraco, he had signed for the Tanzanian giants, crossing from their bitter rivals Yanga but never played for them even a single game. Sources in Dar es Salaam said, “It seems as if he has finally accepted to play for Simba. He was seen at their training ground and word has that he has agreed to settle down with them.” But with more than a year still to run on his two-year contract with Atraco, legally he can’t sign for any other club without Atraco’s approval. “We (Atraco) don’t know anything to do with him joining Simba or any other club because he’s still our player with more than a year still left on his contract with us,” Atraco interim coach Capt. Jean Marie Ntagwabira said when contacted yesterday.He added, “He asked for permission to return to home (Dar es Salaam) and according to us, he’s supposed to come back next month (October 15).” Money involved in is transfer to the Taxi-men was not revealed but club inside source disclosed that he was earning in the regions of $500 (about Frw275000) per month, so any move to another club could involve relatively large sums of transfer fee. During the off season, Atraco have released more than 10 senior and first team players as part of the club restructuring program and no replacement has been made yet. Meanwhile, former APR midfielder cum striker Laurent Kabanda is reported to have taken Tanzanian football by storm. Reports coming from his new club Yanga Africans indicate that the dreadlocked forward has become an instant fans’ darling. The skillful Congolese made his competitive debut when the Tanzanian league kicked off last Saturday. Ends
