I don’t want to believe Mr. Kanaba said the comments I read in the papers because I would have been disappointed once again by another high profile person in Ugandan Club Football with whom I have exchanged a lot and highly thought of him to understand the basic concept. It would be another let down after I hand on many occasions thought Mr. Kabenge understood it too when I actually he doesn’t. I am not attacking the persons of these people but it is a big letdown on my personal side. I am left to wonder then who understands the concept?

Let me put the record straight. I am devout SC Villa fan. I started understanding football around 1987 and was staying around Nsambya. I have been a branch executive of the SC Villa branch of Natete. I love SC Villa and I believe one day I will make a direct contribution to its betterment. In 2001, I wrote a dossier to the late Kevin Aliro and Eng. William Nkemba tasking them to start a 10-year project of building the SC Villa of 2011. In there I predicted that supposing one day the fans stop coming what shall we get back to considering that by then SC Villa fans were still not less than 5,000 for an average league game. I had lost a copy of that document but was retrieved by William Nkemba recently and he gave me a copy. I will publish it one day Insha Allah

Hooliganism has no place in professional football. The clubs are supposed to be brands selling services and products to earn more than they spend. Do you really invite buyers of your products to a battle front? What is the worst refereeing decision in Ugandan football that we have not seen in the English premier League? There are actually no perimeter fences in the premier league. Can we exercise that level restrain?

SC Villa cannot see that the acts of hooliganism only bring down all the other professionalization efforts I have applauded them for. The question to Mr. Kanaba would be, how many shirts or tickets is Villa going to sell because of the action of those barbaric and yet known 3 to 4 fans? The same fans have been recorded on TV removing the blue seats of Namboole, a national stadium and nothing has been done to them. The police look on as these criminal acts are committed with impunity seen on televisions vandalizing a national asset constructed by the tax payers money by a small group of people. Is Uganda really under the rule of law?

Pepsi branded fan throwing stones with kids watching (Source: www.observer.ug)

The SC Villa brand needs a customer base of over 40,000 fans who turn up for the league games and may be millions consuming SC Villa on TV and Merchandise. SC Villa is a continental brand and as a fan I cannot settle for less. It is not hooliganism and press conferences that are going to take us back to the finals of Africa Club championships. I have seen pictures of a man wearing a Pepsi branded Villa shirt carrying heavy stones ready to battle. Is this what another brand disserves because of associating with the SC Villa brand?

In professional football comments by Kanaba are heavily punishable because they bring down the entire Uganda Football Brand. That scenario of creating a war path of a club with FUFA is outdated. It has never worked results anywhere. The best alternative for SC Villa was to appeal in the football judicature but the idea of press conferences and swinging before cameras is not going to work. It just makes the Uganda football brand dirtier and the biggest losers are the clubs that are supposed to be running as business units. Unfortunately they are used more like war objects than football clubs

I think the SC Villa Management should instead manage the expectation of the fans. SC Villa may be on the right sporting path but results are not for now. I am not sure Mike Mutebi will be given the ample time by the same “Munjichi” group of fans to deliver the true professional output. Fergusson needed 6 years to start the Manchester United trophy train. If the fans expectation is managed such act of hooliganism would be avoided. The current SC Villa squad losing to URA is painful to me as well but expected. Villa should go through these bad results in preparation for the better future as the new players perfect their act. The quick fix would be buying already made players but I personally do not subscribe to this

There are many cheerleaders to whoever attacks FUFA but I do not think this is the case where any Ugandan wants to stand up and ask if those were indeed SC Villa fans? Let all of us condemn this act and SC Villa management should instead apologise to the entire football fraternity. Other clubs, FUFA, the government, the media and the fans should equally condemn the act because we all stand to lose

About the Author: Magogo is the Vice president of FUFA in charge of Administration and a FIFA certified Administration Instructor. Besides Football, he is a professional Engineer working with African Development Bank. He posts weekly topical Opinions of matters of subject every Friday). This is not an official position of FUFA

The visitors jet into the country on Tuesday night, 11:30pm aboard Rwanda Air. Kalema will have Kanakulya Khalifan and Okello Lee as his first and second assistants respectively. Brian Nsubuga, another FIFA referee has been selected as a stand-by referee (4th official). Musoke Eugene Katamba is the match Commissioner.

The two teams settled for a 1-all draw in their first leg match in Kigali with George Abega scoring Uganda’s sole goal. The Vice president (USL), Mujib Kasule who coordinates this match on behalf of the federation has urged Ugandans to show up in bigger number in Nakivubo to cheer the young talents.

Secondary and Primary school students donning their uniforms or bearing valid identity cards will access the stadium freely. Charges have been put at Shs.3000 for open and covered stands while the pavilion goes at shs.10.000 only. The Hippos who have since Saturday been training from Wankulukuku will shift to Nakivubo on Tuesday morning.

At this colourful function, the tournament sponsors, East African Breweries Limited (EABL) Uganda were represented by their Brand Manager, Dianah Nsubuga. FUFA Vice President in charge of Technical matters Livingstone Kyambadde stood in for the federation President Lawrence Mulindwa.

The draw results will have the 2011 National League Champions and Bell-Uganda Cup finalists, URA travelling to Kasana Ground to play Luweero United FC on Tuesday March 27. On the same day another Super Division club Maroons FC hosts Aurum Roses as Bunamwaya SC travels to Namboole to play lowly ranked Misindye, a Fufa Big League club. Masaka LC hosts Victors at Masaka Recreational Ground the same Tuesday.

A week earlier on March 20, SC Villa will have played Mbarara Old Timers in Nakivubo with Uganda Police hosting Boroboro Tigers in Namboole on March 29. Kireka United, a Kampala Regional League club will host Jinja Municipality which features in the FUFA Big League at Kyambogo University ground on Saturday march 31.

In his speech read out for him by the Vice President in charge of technical matters Livingstone Kyambadde , the FUFA President Lawrence Mulindwa hailed the sponsors for choosing an upcountry ground to host this year’s finals. The finals will be played at Pece stadium in Gulu district on June 12. Mulindwa further called on the football fans in Uganda to EABL back by identifying with and consuming Bell Lager. EABL’s Dianah Nsubuga said they were committed to supporting football development in the country.

The function was also attended by the Cranes Head Coach Bobby Williamson, a delegation from the East African Breweries limited (EABL) Uganda and club officials among others.

Professional football is a business equation where human, time and financial resources are invested into a process to create a football product that is bought at a higher fee than the cost of input. The human resource is composite of players, coaches, referees, administrators or more generally other professional and support staff to the process. The buyers of the product are the fans while the club owners are the investors into this process. FUFA are regulators to enforce association football rules while USL are the business conglomerate of clubs to package the football product to be good enough for the buyers.

The question is, of the mentioned parties, who is really doing anything close to their expectations? Are they even aware of this business equation? Are our coaches and players aware that they must contribute to the income of the clubs? Professional football has nothing like a rich man investing his personal money into a club or even an institution club like URA FC investing funds from elsewhere into the club. Actually in Europe it is outlawed to use funds not earned from selling a football product into a club

I wish to live a dream of a player plying his trade in Uganda earning from his talent like it is in Europe but we must all work to earn the dream. Let us face the reality, the players are paid very meagerly and I deeply share their concern but where should their pay come from? If all the Sponsorship money went into paying players, thus 68 million per club for 25 players for 12 months, each player would earn 226,667 UGX before NSSF and PAYE.

The picture is better represented in the table herein as the MINIMUM budget for a club to complete its fixtures over a season

I am aware there are clubs that are paying for lunch every day for the 25 players and paying housing allowance for the rent of the players in addition to their salaries. As we speak, there is only one source of funds for clubs and that is Sponsorship. If we think the 68 million shillings from the sponsors was to be offset, where is the UGX 82 million to run the club to coming from? Commentators are painting a situation where someone is earning off the sweat of players yet the truth is someone is spending hard earned personal cash into a club. Owning a football club is an addiction more like gambling or drugs well aware that it is a danger to your person but you continue to spend. Do you know why the former big cub spenders (read rehabilitated) former club official like Omar Mandela and Kirumira never come back? It is ironical that even some “fans” who do not watch club games are saying the players should be paid at least xxx amounts.

In a professional environment, the clubs would be earning from gate collections, media rights, club sponsorships, prize monies, sale of players, merchandising etc but we are all aware that currently none of the above is a source of revenue to clubs. We should actually be grateful to men like Col Jackson Tushabe Bells (Victors), Lawrence Mulindwa (Bunamwaya), the men at Express, SC Villa, and the institutions that provide the funds to clubs. The last league game to make worth gate collection was in 2003 and the stadia have been empty since then, so where has the money to run these clubs been coming from. I implore all critics of the clubs and sympathizers of the players to get their calculators before they point figures. The current USL football economy is retrogressive and growing in negative double digit percentage.

Having said that, the players have genuine issues that we must all accept. First and foremost there must be VALID contracts between players and clubs. The standard contract content and formatting should be included, the players should understand the contracts they are signing and copies should be given to players too. It is also important that clubs fulfill their obligations however little it may be. Let clubs accept players to be properly represented in contract discussions by persons of their choice. This has nothing to do with money.

I further implore the players to appreciate that the business equation of the league. They are required to cause income to clubs for them to be paid better. Without revenue to clubs, all they are demanding for is someone to get money from his pocket to pay them on top of providing an environment for them to play football. Players should further desist from being used by football politicians and vultures who have a different agenda. The valid concerns are watered down by demanding for FUFA officials’ resignation and stopping league games. Even in Spain and Italy, it had to be done during the off-season.

On the side of FUFA, we demanded that the clubs undergo a club licensing process and one of the conditions was valid players’ contracts. The officials at USL resisted and undermined the exercise and for example Express SC did not submit any single contract and was not eligible to play in the league by rules. Our issues to date with USL have been undermining football rules.

All in all, FUFA has an obligation to ensure that players and the clubs are protected. Personally I think the matter of local player agents should have taken root by this time.

About the Author: Magogo is the Vice president of FUFA in charge of Administration and a FIFA certified Administration Instructor. Besides Football, he is an Engineer working with African Development Bank )

The sponsors and the organizers have already inspected the facilities in Gulu that will host this major event. The first leg of the semi finals is scheduled for April 24 while the return leg goes for the weekend of 28-29 of the same month. The program gives the finalists ample time to prepare for the big clash. The quarter finals have been fixed on April 7-8.

The draws for the round of 16 will be held this Thursday at Ivys Hotel in Wakaliga starting 10am. The clubs that advanced to this round of 16 include two regional teams; Luweero united FC (Buganda) and Kireka United FC of Kampala region. Six others are FUFA Big League clubs some of which trounced Super Division clubs to qualify to this stage. They include Old Timers, Misindye, Jinja Municipality, CRO, Boroboro Tigers and Aurum Roses FC.

Out of the 15 Super Division clubs, only 8 survived humiliation and will play in the next stage. These are Water, Victors, URA, SC Villa, Uganda Police, Masaka LC, Bunamwaya and Maroons.

The two youthful sides settled for a 1-all draw in Kigali on February 28 and will now meet in Kampala for the return leg of their international friendly. Both nations are preparing for the CAF Africa U20 Championship due in April. Uganda plays Mozambique on the weekend of April 20-22 while Rwanda travels to Namibia on the same date.

Charges for the open and covered stands have been uniformly put at Shs.3000 only and Shs.10.000 for the pavilion. Secondary and primary school students dressed in uniforms will access the stadium at no cost. Five new faces have been included on the list that starts training this Saturday in Wankulukuku stadium. They include Kigonya Matia (Misindye), Jjuuko Maurishid , Bukenya Deus, Wadada Nicholas (Bunamwaya) and Bagole Kasule David (BiDCO).

Others are Goal keepers Mugabi Alex (Simba) and Akol Emmanuel from Maroons. The defenders are Makoba Denis, Namwanja Simon, Wasswa Hassan (ELS Academy-Entebbe), Kasadha Lawrence (SC Villa) and Mukisa Yusufu (Proline). The list of midfielders has Gigi Ali (Proline), Aucho Khalid (Simba),Tuliraba Alex (Maroons), Nkata Fred (Bombo United), Achoma Robert, Katenda Hamis (SC Villa), Mutyaba Muzamir (Maroons).

Goal scorer in Kigali Opio George Abega (Maroons) will leads the list of strikers who included Said Kyeyune (URA), Wadri William (Proline), Ocho Brian (Maji) and Opolot Martin from Bombo United FC. Paul Nkata, Abdallah Mubiru and Steven Kiggundu are in charge of Uganda’s technical bench.
End

The Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) has short listed three applicants for the player Agents examinations scheduled for March 29. The successful candidates are John Nsambu Chrysostom, James Ofong and Musa Kizito. The trio will have to answer 20 questions, five of which will be locally set and the rest from FIFA. The Federation education officer, Mr. Lubega Byuma William will be in charge of the examinations.

Women’s day tournament on

Uganda Women Football Association in conjunction with FUFA have organized an annual March 8th international women’s day football tournament that will attract a total of 30 clubs between 8th and 10th of this month. The identified groups are U14, U19 and the open category that will draw participants from clubs, universities and tertiary institutions among others. The venues are Old Kampala and Mengo secondary school grounds. The finals will be staged in Nakivubo. FUFA will fund the tournament.

Masembe to conduct referees’ course

CAF instructor, Charles Masembe will this coming Sunday, March 11, 2011 conduct a referees’ refresher course at the federation headquarters in Mengo starting 8 o’clock. All referees that officiate the Bell Uganda super league and the FUFA Big League have been directed to attend. The one day training will mainly cover the areas of self management and the interpretation and application of the football laws.

Beach soccer calendar out

The Uganda Beach Football Association has released an activity calendar for this year. The registration of players that started on 1st march closes on Sunday this week while the round one of the league flags off on March 18 at Lido Beach Entebbe. The first edition of the National women Beach soccer is scheduled between 21-22 April. Three days have been earmarked for the Post-Primary National Beach competition between 15-17. The U13 competition runs in August, the inter University tournament rolls off on October 6 and there will be a National Beach symposium on December 1 before a National Corporate Beach Soccer competition between Dec 8-9.

USL clubs in fight against Malaria

Five Uganda Super League clubs have signed a partnership to join an international campaign in the fight against Malaria. Bunamwaya SC, Hoima-Busia, Bidco, Simba SC and Proline FC officials received branded warm-up kits, balls and bibs from the United Against Malaria (UAM) team leader in Uganda, Kenneth Mulondo from the federation headquarters in Mengo today morning. UAM teram will be in Bombo on Friday in their continued efforts to create awareness and galvanise commitment to end malaria death by 2015, a target date set by the United Nations.

On arrival at Entebbe International Airport aboard Ethiopian airlines on Saturday afternoon, Mutumba was received by FUFA Spokesperson, Rogers Mulindwa. “ I am honoured to be called upon to serve my country. I promise to offer my best if given a chance” Mutumba told the press before leaving Entebbe for Kampala. He added, “I plead to whoever is concerned to speed up the process of producing my passport. I shall be disappointed when I don’t play”

He straight away went to the training camp at Mandela National stadium where head coach Bobby Williamson officially introduced him to the newly appointed team captain Andy Mwesigwa and thereafter joined the rest of the team for an afternoon training.

FUFA Head of communications, Rogers Mulindwa said Mutumba will travel with the team this night as the process of securing his Ugandan passport continues. “We are taking 19 players hoping that his passport will be produced on Monday and we fly it to Brazzaville the following day” Mulindwa explained. The match is scheduled for Wednesday.