Simba’s ‘Struggles’ Without Fadlu Continue As Successor Sacked |

Simba Part Ways With Dimitar Pantev. Photo: X/@MickyJnr__

Tanzania giants Simba SC have parted ways with head coach Dimitar Pantev after just 61 days in charge.

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Pantev was appointed as a replacement for Fadlu Davids, who left the side after just one season to rejoin Raja Club Athletic.

Davids enjoyed a successful season in 2024/25, finishing as the runner-up in the Tanzanian Premier League and the CAF Confederation Cup, before moving to Raja at the start of the season.

Pantev was appointed in October, two weeks after Davids’ departure, after leaving Gaborone United in Botswana, but his appointment did not have the desired effect.

The club released a statement confirming Pantev’s departure, along with his two assistants.

“Simba club management has reached a mutual agreement to terminate the contract with General Manager Dimitar Pantev and his two assistants,” the statement reads.

According to Tanzania’s The Citizen, the club’s assistant coach, Selemani Matola, is set to take over on an interim basis as they search for a new coach.

The publication reported that the turning point in Pantev’s Simba tenure was the team’s poor start to the CAF Champions League group stage when they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Angola’s Petro Atletico and a 2-1 loss to Mali’s Stade Malien.

Simba are bottom of Group D with zero points, while their domestic campaign was also disappointing under the Bulgarian, with only two wins, two draws and two losses in his six games in charge.

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The decision has an impact on former Mamelodi Sundowns duo Neo Maema and Rushine De Reuck, who are set to have a third permanent coach this season.  

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