Barbara Gonzalez: The CEO changing perceptions in Tanzanian football

Having long held a passion for football, having both played it and developed a love for Arsenal because of her father, Gonzalez was initially put off about by the industry given its perception on the continent.

“My role is to professionalise the industry,” she asserts. “Right now, it is seen as a very unprofessional industry, run like a ‘mom & pop shop’ – that needs to change.”

Among the structures she will be looking to set up is an avenue to develop young talent and although Tanzania’s federation requires all top tier clubs to have youth outfits, only two have fully-fledged youth academies.

Simba may already have Under-20 and Under-17 teams but an academy is one of Gonzalez’s first goals.

“It doesn’t make sense that a massive club like Simba constantly buys players from other clubs and leagues,” she explains.

“We need to create a structure where we are upgrading some players into the main team every year, but until you have invested heavily into the youth academy that can’t happen.”

While the domestic battle with Yanga will dominate many fans’ minds, Gonzalez wants to improve Simba’s poor record in African competition – where the club’s last notable feat, reaching the semi-finals of what is today the Champions League, dates back to 1974.

“Our ultimate goal for the next few years is to be champions of Africa. We realise that cannot happen overnight,” she explains.

“My role is to create an enabling environment for the technical bench to deliver results. If that means investing in players – invest well.

“If that means investing in equipment – invest well. If that means investing in nutrition and medical equipment to create the best performance – invest well.”

As she plans to do exactly that, Gonzalez aims to become a reference point for African women aspiring to a career in sports leadership.

“I think this will inspire many women to say: ‘you know, we have our Barbara there, it is possible we can do this, and if she has been able to do it in a very tough environment like Tanzania I am pretty sure it is possible in the rest of the continent’,” she said.