Tanzanian club Simba Queens has signed a one-year agreement with Yusif Basigi, a highly regarded Ghanaian women’s football coach.
Having received blessings from Hasaacas Ladies’ management, Basigi arrived in Dar es Salaam over the weekend, ready to begin his exciting new adventure. 
The Tanzanian club first showed interest in Basigi two years ago. Still, he rejected the opportunity to assist Hasaacas Ladies in reclaiming the Malta Guinness Women’s Premier League title they lost to Ampem Darkoa two seasons ago. 
Coach Basigi announced his departure to SportsTribune, expressing that the intense pressure from the Tanzanian side prompted him to seek a new challenge in women’s football. 
“It is rare for clubs to attempt to hire coaches from other countries. They have been making persistent attempts to recruit me for two years, but I refused because of my commitment to my club and country”. 
Upon his return from Colombia, where Ghana’s Under-20 team, the Princesses, failed to progress beyond the group stage, officials from Simba Queens expressed renewed interest, leading him to accept their offer. 
I’ve thought about it carefully and decided to give it a shot. I have now arrived in Dar es Salaam to begin this new phase of my coaching career,” he confirmed in an interview. 
Task Ahead 
Basigi’s first priority is to assemble a formidable team using the current Simba Queens players, leading them to triumph in local and global competitions. 
Leading Hasaacas Ladies since its founding in 2003, Basigi has played a crucial role in establishing the team as a dominant force in women’s football in Ghana. Under his guidance, the team secured five Women’s Premier League titles, an FA Cup, and the First Lady’s Cup. 
Basigi successfully guided Hasaacas Ladies to the inaugural CAF Women’s Champions League in 2021. The team won the WAFU Zone B tournament and finished second in the main competition, falling short to Mamelodi Sundowns in the final. 
Despite their efforts, Hasaacas Ladies failed to achieve a second Champions League appearance as they fell short in the WAFU competition. 
Basigi, an educationist, has had an impressive career coaching Ghana’s national teams, such as the Black Queens and Black Princesses. 
He achieved a historic feat by guiding two teams to victory at the African Games: the Black Queens in 2005 and the Black Princesses in 2023. Under Basigi’s tutelage, the Queens achieved a bronze medal at the 2006 Women’s African Cup of Nations, while the Princesses secured gold at the inaugural WAFU Zone B U-20 tournament in 2023. 
Simba Queens Soccer Club is a women’s football team associated with Simba S.C. and based in Kariakoo, Dar es Salaam. As champions of Tanzania’s Women’s Premier League, they have competed in every CECAFA Women’s Champions League since it started in 2021. 
The CECAFA champions of 2022, Simba Queens, secured a place in the CAF Women’s Champions League held in Morocco that same year. Their journey to the semi-finals ended when AS FAR knocked them out.