Former Rayon Sports coach Masudi Djuma has been appointed as interim head coach of Tanzania Premier League giants Simba Sports Club to replace Joseph Omog. According to reports from Tanzania, Simba parted ways with Cameroonian Omog after being eliminated from the Tanzania FA Cup by Green Warriors on Saturday. Temporally, Simba appointed Masudi to take charge until a permanent head coach is signed, but it is reported that the former Burundian international has a chance to scoop the job. Masudi, who led Rayon Sports to a league title last season before he resigned citing personal reasons, will take charge of his first league match against Ndanda FC on Tuesday. Omog has been head coach of Simba since July 2017. Simba leads the Tanzania Premier League table with 23 points same as second-placed Azam FC. At Simba, Masudi, a former Rayon Sports captain, will work with Amavubi skipper Haruna Niyonzima, who admitted that, “It is good to work with Masudi. He is a good coach with good qualities and hope we will keep getting better with him in charge; I am looking forward to work with him.” Masudi has been working as Omog’s assistant. Masudi joined Rayon in November 2015 as assistant coach under Belgian tactician Ivan Minneart, who ended his ties with the club in February 2016 and the Burundian took over as interim head coach until the end of the season. During his interim tenure, he guided the club to a Peace Cup title for a record 9th time, the first in nearly 11 years, hence qualifying for this year’s CAF Confederation Cup where they reached the playoff round for the first time in their history. Last season, Masudi was appointed the head coach signing a three-year contract until 2020. In his first season, he led the Blues to the league title which they won with four games to spare. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
