On Saturday, 22nd October 2016, Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) held the 92nd Ordinary Annual General Assembly at Nimrod Hotel in Luweero.
The activity report read by the FUFA President Eng. Moses Magogo clearly potrays that federation has now taken a direction of segmenting its activities in 8 areas of focus;
- Administration & Planning
Human Resource
The more football has become professional, the more it has demanded for fulltime quality and quantity Human Resource. FIFA and its Member Associations henceforth have taken the direction to install and facilitate football secretariats to implement the decisions of the General Assembly and the Executive Committees. Hitherto football day-to-day business was being undertaken by standing committees of volunteers headed by members of the Executive Committee.
I am proud to report that since August 2013, where FUFA had 13 full-time staff without job descriptions, no job titles, no assigned roles, whose salaries were being paid in cash, and without employment contracts. Currently FUFA employs 30 full-time staff on performance-based contracts, being paid through their respective bank accounts, with their statutory NSSF and PAYE being remitted, respective job titles, job descriptions and prior set performance objectives taking them through annual appraisals.
The salaries of individual staff have since been increased (I must say they are still way off the market rates) and the motivation has included equal opportunity for secretariat staff travelling with the national team and the 13th month for the best employee as voted for by the fellow staff. We are able to conduct end of year staff events. Basically we have created a work force to support the ever increasing demands of football. I must also report that the FUFA CEO has been empowered to be in full control of the secretariat
The following functionalities have since been created;
Deputy CEO
Competitions Director and Officers
Finance Director and Officers
Marketing& Communications Director and Officer
National Teams Manager
Legal Manager
Referees Manager
Communications Manager
Education Officer
Driver
Receptionist
Personal Assistant to the FUFA President
Media Content Officer
FUFA Youth Football Officer
FUFA Women football Officer
Tools & Equipment
Even the best Human Resource will require the right facilitation, tools and equipment to deliver a job. We have undertaken the renovations of FUFA House, made civil adjustment to accommodate, a modern reception area, house the 102.1 FUFA fm Radio, provided more effective utilization of space, putting closer related functionality staff, and generally give an outlook of a modern corporate institution.
Security control of Biometric access control has been installed and the Executive Lounge has been created let alone water dispensers in the corridors.
We now have Wifi installed throughout the building and 2Mb dedicated broadband internet access. We have a full intercom telephone system and a LAN. The signage of directions and offices has been set.
We have acquired Vehicles for the CEO, 102.1 FUFA fm Radio and secretariat. We repaired the Mini Bus and the even the main bus was renovated after the accident case in December 2015.
Being fast depreciating assets, more investment is required in this area.
The Technical Centre was completed to create a classroom environment and the Technical Department now sits in Njeru.
Caveat on FUFA House placed in 2005 by Swift Commodities has now been removed.
Statutory & Strategic Events
Statutory Meetings; we have undertaken all scheduled statutory meetings for the Excom and General Assembly as provided for in the statutes. We have empowered the Excom and General Assembly to undertake its constitutional powers and duties. We have however not performed as expected on the matter of Standing Committees.
Retreats; We have organised retreats to improve competitions, regulations and strategic planning. The 5-year Strategic plan, which will be approved by the FUFA General Assembly, will definitely turn around the industry of football in Uganda. We believe the FUFA General Assembly will approve it. Irrespective of change of HR the plan should be implemented and may only be changed by the FUFA General Assembly.
Increased Benefits, Allowances & Salaries
- Staff Salaries Increased from 13,000,000/- in 2013 to 31,000,000/- (Basic pay per Month – Average) in 2017
- Staff/Delegates Travel with National Team
- Siting for Excom from 300,000/- to 1m
- Committees from 30,000/- to 50,000/-
- Delegates from 50,000/- to 200,000/- (Assembly & Cranes Matches)
Services
Legal; we recruited a full time professional staff in Mr. Dennis Lukambi. He has been very instrumental in representing FUFA in all areas of legal services requirement.
Insurance; we have undertaken comprehensive insurance for FUFA House and the FUFA Technical Centre. We however need to take insurance for the vehicles and persons on FUFA duty.
Finance & Banking; We have continued to be frugal and improved on our internal financial control systems. The nature of football business requires a lot of restrain not to divert from the corporate governance practices in managing finances.
We have eliminated spending at source and continued to reduce on cash expenses. The Uganda Cranes players are now being paid through their respective bank accounts.
Our budget has increased from 800,000,000/- in 2013 to UGX 14bn for 2017. This has been due to increased income as generated by the marketing department, funding from international affiliation and Government support to the Uganda Cranes amongst others.
With Revaluation of FUFA Assets, we have created the FUFA Asset register for the first time.
We have also as the Excom decided to change our bank accounts to Eco Bank who have been instrumental to manage our cash flow challenges by providing credit facilities in moments when our incomes are not yet coming through. This has enabled FUFA not to undertake risky expensive short term credit facilities.
We intend to replace the current manual finance system with an integrated enterprise financial application where budget controls, approved expenditures and outstanding statutory payments will be managed electronically. This will provide real-time reporting and will improve accuracy and effectiveness.
- Governance
Compliance with National Laws & NCS Registration
The obsolete 1964 NCS Act had its regulations operationalized in 2014 and these contradicted FIFA Statutes. We have since harmonized with the MoES and FIFA that by March 2018, a new Act which removes the contradiction will be completed to replace the 1964 Act. FUFA has since submitted all its requirements for the temporary registration until a clear solution is provided for. We await the NCS
Court Cases
FUFA and its officials have been under litigation in the cases listed below and their current status. We believe the Federation has the justification and means to navigate the unresolved cases.
- Kaliga case
- Kabali Cranes Bus Accident
- Omongole KCCA FC
- Grand Global Hotel
- Walusimbi Daniel Case
- Mandela National Stadium
- Cranes Fan
Statutes, Regulations, Policies and Structures
Statutes
The FUFA statutes have been regularly amended as provided for amongst others to address the following;
- Financial Year End from 30th June to 31st December, this has allowed to undertake the full audit procedure and also send documents to delegates in time.
- Changing from FUFA Ltd to Scoreline Investments Ltd in order to fulfill the requirements of NCS Regulations.
- Accommodating 1st Division Club CEOs and Election of Mobile Area Delegates (FBL).
Regulations
The Rules Adhoc Committee was setup to revamp the various sets of rules and regualtions. 17 sets of rules were either revamped or created. Regulations have been set to create Uganda Cranes Nation-wide Fans Associations Recognized by FUFA
Policies
The Human Resource, Referees, Finance and Education Manuals have been created.
Structures
Newly Created Committees for
International Match Organisation; for management of international matches
Match Organisation; for management of national matches in areas of hooliganism, violence, and predetermination of results. The committee may initiate criminal proceedings against parties.
Judicial Bodies
FUFA has now created the independent judicial bodies composed of the Disciplinary Committee for the on-field contraventions of the FUFA Disciplinary Code and the Ethics &Integrity Committee for the largely off-field contraventions of the FUFA Ethics Code. Each of these committees has both the investigatory and adjudication chambers.
Already amongst the cases managed, Mr. Sam Simbwa was found guilty of bringing football into disrepute and sanctioned for 8 months that he served while Mr. Haruna Kyobe was found guilty of being involved in an unauthorized transfer of a Vipers Sports Club player (Joseph Mpande) and is currently serving a 16-month sanction sentence.
Work Planning and Budget
A Strategic Plan for period 2017-21 has been drafted and will provide the execution agenda for FUFA. It has now been presented to the FUFA General Assembly for approval.
THE 2017 FUFA Budget has been created in sync with the Strategic plan. There has still been a challenge of budget discipline and going forward the FUFA Executive Committee will ensure that only planned activities and consequently budgeted for are undertaken as scheduled.
Accountability & Audit
We have undertaken external audit for the periods
- 1st July 2013 to 31st December 2014(Approved by the 91st FUFA Gen Assembly-Soroti)
- 1st January to 31st December 2015 (To be approved by the 92ndFUFA Gen Assembly-Luwero)
We published the 91st Audited Books of Accounts at the FUFA Reception and also shared with the various stakeholders inclusive of NCS and FIFA.
In order to gain more internal and external stakeholders confidence, the FUFA Executive Committee now seeks the approval of the FUFA General Assembly to publish the 92nd Audited Books of Accounts in nation-wide circulation newspaper, and submit copies to the NCS, MoES, Office of President and MoFPED amongst others. This should continue as a good corporate governance practice.
- Competitions
Football Competitions are the heartbeat of any football Association. The main role of FUFA in Competitions is to organize, authorize to organize, to monitor, enforce regulations, register and organize a schedule for all.
Professional Competitions
This comprises of the 1st and 2nd Division Leagues for Men (Azam Uganda Premier League) and Women (FUFA Women Elite League). Club licensing has been undertaken and standards at the Elite Club football have increased.
The good working relationship between FUFA, the FUFA Super League Limited Board, Uganda Premier League Secretariat and the Clubs has completely eliminated the previous battles here. I applaud the club chairmen who have ensured that this tranquility continues.
Professionalization is taking root at club level as evidenced by the rate of club sponsors coming on board. Vipers SC (Hima Cement), Bright Stars (Lato Milk and Fero Mobile), SC Villa (Star Times), KCCA (Star Times & Others) and Onduparaka (Betway) make 5 out of 16 Clubs now with Club Sponsors. FUFA is considering in the near future that a club without a club sponsor may not be club licensed for the 1st Division League.
The quality of football and level of competition has increased tremendously and if maintained we are destined to get more locally based players in the Men’s (A) National Team.
There still exists a challenge of insufficient resources for the professional leagues both for the Men and Women.
Mass Competitions
This comprises of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Division Leagues for Men and the Women Regional League for Women. The 3rd Division Continued to run in all the 8 FUFA Regions, but only 70% of the eligible DFA organized the 4th Division League and 40% of the eligible DFA organized the 5th Division League. Only Kampala RFA and Buganda RFA organized the Women Regional Leagues
Employed Fulltime Staff
We have employed 4 full-time staff in this department to ensure proper and timely services to the football public.
Document Bureau
We have also established a document registration centre and the regulations now apply that FUFA will only consider the document registered with FUFA as authentic.
We encourage the various football parties to register documents such as statutes, regulations, contracts and agreements such that in moments of adjudication they can be referenced.
Organised Competitions
We have also organised the following official FUFA Competitions;
Azam Uganda Premier League (Delegated Authority to FSLL)
FUFA Big League
FUFA Women Elite League
FUFA Juniors League
Uganda Cup
Uganda Women Cup (1st edition to be organised for the 2016/17 season)
FUFA Super Cup
New Competition
FUFA is in final stages working with potential TV and Title Sponsors to introduce a football competition between the 16 Provinces in Uganda. This is the latest innovation that will turn around the search for football talent in Uganda.
Licensing Data input at Regions/Clubs
The 1st Division Clubs are now inputting players and official registration data from their respective offices. This will be done for the 2nd Division League and FWEL and the regions for the 3rd, 4th and 5th Division Leagues. This is being done through the License Plus online application.
Registration of Players
The status, transfer and registration of players is a continuous exercise at the Competitions Department. 44,400 players (both Men and Women) are registered by FUFA for the 2016/17 season.
However, the decisions on the status of players should be expeditious and more transparent for the benefit of the clubs and players. The Contract Stability and Training Compensation to teams that own players moving from the Mass Football (3rd, 4th, 5th Divisions, Women, Regional Leagues and Schools) to the Professional League (1st, 2nd, & FWEL) should be enforced
Organised Events Calendar
We have stabilized in the management of events by producing a calendar that guides the activities and fixtures of football. This allows proper allocation of time to accommodate all programmes, events and matches without clashing. There is still room for improvement
Introduced sets of regulations
The following sets of regulations have been introduced to better the delivery of football;
- Club licensing regulations
- FUFA coaches and licensing regulations
- Women cup regulations
- FUFA junior league regulations
- FUFA authorized competitions regulations
- FUFA women elite league regulations
Competitions Application
In the 5-year Strategy, we are planning to procure a Football Competitions Application that will provide real-time statistical data about all competitions in Uganda.
- Membership
FUFA comprises of 32 members.
We have now fully re-admitted the Uganda Football Players Association (UFPA) who have now benefited from the FUFA Financial Assistance Programmes to the Members. They have now offices and their leadership has organised courses for its members and also participated in FUFA programmes. They have undertaken counselling of the players and in some cases represented players in matters of their status and contract stability.
The Uganda Youth Football Association have also been admitted to Full membership.
The rest of the members have been undertaking their respective activities, enjoying their statutory rights and fulfilling their statutory obligations.
Regional Football Association Strategy
In the 92nd FUFA General Assembly we will undertake to approve the Regional Football Association Strategy that will include;
- FFAP to Members
- The Balls Distribution Programme
- The Education Plan
- Supervision & Mentorship
- Offices with Facilities
- Infrastructure
The FFAP has not been coming as scheduled for matters of cash flow and priorities but with the new strategy, even payment dates have been set to enable proper planning for the RFAs.
Solidarity Policy
FUFA has formulated a Policy for the matters of “in solidarity” with its members, officials, coaches, players and referees in cases of sorrow and happiness.
- Marketing & Communications
Marketing
- Staffing & Revenue
In 2013 when we took over the Administration of FUFA, the marketing function of FUFA was being manned by a committee of non-professional volunteers. We deliberately decided to hire full time professional staff. This has paid off handsomely with the increased sponsorship revenue from about 600m to now 3.45 Billion UGX in just 3 years. This is just the beginning as many other deals are being negotiated by our marketing team
Esther Musoke is the Marketing Director
Marketing at FUFA has seen Namboole with big turn up of fans for Uganda Cranes games
Commission Policy
The FUFA Executive Committee took a very unpopular decision to provide and cap commission to sponsorship to a maximum of 20% to any individual and agencies that bring sponsorship to FUFA. Although we were ridiculed for it, this brought tremendous results.
Rebranding
We took a deliberate effort to rebrand by creating and promoting a new FUFA logo, other properties logos and the Uganda Cranes Shirt and also named public opinion leader in Moses Ssali alias Bebe Cool as the Uganda Cranes Ambassador. There was resistance to these moves but eventually we have been proven to have been spot on.
Visibility
We opted to spend resources in creating branding materials such as pitch boards, back-drops, tier-drops, corporate ware, stationery and vehicle branding amongst others.
To be more specific, the FUFA Executive Committee Members, The Delegates, FUFA Staff, the Uganda Cranes Players and the International Commissioners, Assessors and referees are being provided with FUFA Branded Corporate Suits.
We also opted for FUFA to be represented at events and all these created a visibility platform.
The Uganda Cranes Regional Tours (Namutima) have also been used amongst others to promote the brand-Uganda Cranes nation-wide.
Sloganeering and Campaigns
We created the motto ‘It is Our Game, It is Our Country’ which has awakened our protection of the game that is shared and enjoyed by our Country. We also heavily paid as FUFA to create the ‘MujjeTulumbe’ campaign which mobilized the biggest attendance in the game against Comoros.
Corporate Tournament
We have run 2 editions of the FUFA Corporate Tournament at FUFA Technical Centre in Njeru. This has not only promoted the centre but also used to socialize and encourage more corporate organisations to get closer to FUFA.
FUFA Awards
We revamped the FUFA Awards where the best footballers in the Male and Female Categories win themselves brand new cars. This has created competition amongst the footballers. We shall launch the 2016 FUFA Awards next week.
FUFA Awards ceremony 2015
Commercial Property Profile
We have profiled our commercial properties in a booklet and it is much easier today for a sponsor to opt for a profile correspondent upon the volume of investment to be made. Our profiled commercial properties include;
- The Uganda Cranes(Men National team)
- The Crested Cranes (Women National team)
- Uganda Kobs
- Uganda Hippos
- Uganda Cubs
- FUFA Uganda Premier league
- FUFA Women Elite League
- FUFA Radio 102.1 FUFA fm
- FUFA Big League
- FUFA Uganda Cup
- FUFA Juniors league
- FUFA Inter Regions
- FUFA Referees
- Official Uganda Cranes Replica Jersey
- FUFA Technical Centre, Njeru
- FUFA Corporate Tournament
- FUFA Super 8 Championship
- FUFA Mama Becca Cup
- The Uganda Cranes Regional Tours
- FUFA Merchandise Shop
- FUFA XI team
- FUFA Awards
FUFA Merchandising Shop
The FUFA Shop has been established and it has been the distribution terminal of the authentic Uganda Cranes Shirts were about 10,000 pcs of replica shirts have been sold. In the 5-year strategy, we plan to expand on the distribution points inclusive of online merchandising and more branded items
The Future
The marketing team continues to search for more sponsorship opportunities inclusive of the national team Kit Sponsorship and will undertake the first ever thorough football research, create and implement a marketing strategy out of the research findings.
Communications
Our communications department is fully operational and I am proud to report that all official communications are done on our FUFA mediums.
Staffing
By 2013, the FUFA communications function was still being run by a volunteering part-time member of the FUFA executive committee backed by a media committee. We decided to hire full-time experienced communications personnel in Ahmed Hussein as a Communications Manager. We have since also hired full time Media Content Officer in Lugemwa Patrick. We also retain a number of stringers for the online content updates. He is also responsible for archiving all FUFA activities in text, visual and photography.
He is also responsible for the creation of Audio, Pictorial and Video Graphics for utilization on the FUFA TV Sets and the entire FUFA Digital Media Platform. We also share our in-house production with Media Houses and these have utilized accrediting FUFA as the source.
Signage at FUFA House & FUFA Technical Centre
After the renovations of FUFA House, branded corporate signage has been installed providing directions. This includes the working hours’ signage and the Building Stone mark of the Late Dennis Obua Administration for FUFA House and that of Mr. Lawrence Mulindwa Administration for the FUFA Technical Centre.
The physical location signage of FUFA House and the FUFA Technical Centre will be installed soon.
Communication Tools
Digital platforms
The Digital Platform of FUFA which includes the official Facebook page, FUFA staff customized emails (admin@fufa.co.ug), Twitter and the FUFA website (fufa.co.ug) has been lively since January 2014 and our information traffic on these mediums has grown tremendously.
We have 10,300 followers on Twitter, 35,000 likes on Facebook and 175 videos of FUFA events uploaded on the FUFA Youtube account. FUFA Communication department has been very active on the various whatsapp groups
The FUFA President’s Facebook page and Twitter handle are also up and running for more one on one interaction with the sports fraternity in Uganda and beyond. I am also proud to report a tremendous improvement in this department and also state the traffic of usage on our platforms is respected and it’s the number one go to platform for any information on FUFA related news.
FUFA has built a strong digital platform inclusive of the live FUFA website (ww.fufa.co.ug), verifies Twitter and Facebook Accounts and an official FUFA youtube channel.
PAS; FUFA acquired its own mobile Public Address System that is used at events. This cut out recurrent costs of hiring PAS.
TV & Radio Sets; At the FUFA House Reception and certain offices at FUFA House, Television Sets have been installed that run exclusively FUFA Activities and events.
Buganda Regional Football Association Officials inside the 102.1 FUFA fm studios
102.1 FUFA fm; Every time there is a World Cup and FIFA realizes more revenue than planned, a bonus allocation out of budget is provided for the Member Associations to share. For the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa each FIFA Member Association was allocated 550,000 USD while for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, each FIFA Member Association was allocated 500,000 USD. As passed by the 90th FUFA General Assembly in Lira, we acquired 102.1 FUFA fm as a legacy of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil from part of the bonus received. This has provided a tremendous platform to reach out to the FM Radio space which currently in Uganda within the radius of 95 kms. Education, Entertainment and Promotion of FUFA activities have been undertaken using this tool.
Our Delegates of various Member Associations, high profile dignitaries and foreign delegations that have visited FUFA House have been taken on a guided tour of the studios.
Conventional Media; FUFA has Continued to address the conventional media platform of the Print and Electronic Media through Media House Visits by FUFA Personnel, Professional Press Conferences and Press Releases. The FUFA Communications Manager has also continued to run a weekly column with the Red Pepper
Media Centre; We initiated and have continued to provide a media centre facility at AFCON and World Cup Qualifier Home matches. The centre has free wifi internet and refreshment for the media personnel on duty
External-International; It is now quite easy for the World Media to pick the professional stories and pictures off our official verified social media accounts. The FIFA and CAF digital media run stories from FUFA and this propagates our programmes and activities to the World Audience
PR
We deliberately took a strategy to advocate for reconciliation, accommodating criticism, listening to divergentopinions and explaining ourselves at all levels. It is our working methods to encourage openly speaking (at the right forum) and also not to victimize or disfranchise anyone with a different opinion. This has been extended to the Uganda Cranes Players and Coaches amongst others. This has created a wrangles-free environment that has allowed football development to blossom
We have improved on our relationship with USPA, Government and its agencies, Ex-internationals, UOC, CECAFA, UEFA, CAF, FIFA and other FIFA Member Associations.
Perception of Football
We have worked tirelessly to position football to the attention of the powers that are. It was unbelievable that Parliament of Uganda and the entire government spectrum could make football a point of discussion. Today the Uganda Cranes, the football flagship brand, is discussed across the top religious echelon, the cultural leadership spectrum and every ordinary citizen. Currently, Uganda is being discussed on the world media channels of Bein Sport, ESPN, Super Sport, Azam, Sky News, BBC, Al Jazeera, CNN, VOA, RFI etc.
The Corporate portfolio in Uganda has taken on the Friday Uganda Cranes Jersey bug.
Whereas at one time HE the President of the Republic of Uganda confessed he knew little about the Uganda Cranes, today he has acquired keen interest in the proceedings and welfare of the team that he calls the FUFA President, the Head Coach and the Team Captain directly to re-affirm his support. I cannot forget when Faruuk Miya scored the goal that ended the 38 year absence from AFCON Finals, the Minister of Education and Sports and also First Lady Mrs. Janat Kataha Museveni abandoned her protocol and security detail to celebrate on her first visit to the stadium.
Football currently is being perceived and positioned in its rightful place and this will result into the right prioritization and resource allocation.
CSR
We have conducted Corporate Social Responsibility activities where football gives back to the community.
Cancer charity activity
One of our members Uganda Football Players Association organized a clinic at Nakivubo stadium to raise awareness about the deadly cancer which claimed the life of Abel Dhaira and many other sports people. This was done in conjunction with the Uganda Cancer Institute.
FUFA through the Uganda Cup supported the Missionaries of the Poor in Kisenyi as one of the CSR activities
Nakasongola; Using the Uganda Cranes Brand, the National Team played a charity match in Nakasongola on 23rd July, 2016. FUFA partnered with Radio Simba to organize this charity activity and all the proceeds of the game were donated to the improvement of the maternity ward at the Nakasongola Health Centre IV.
Missionaries of the Poor; Using the Uganda Cup brand, FUFA appealed to the football community to surrender the extra clothing and through this FUFA collected 16 bales of clothing and food items (five bags of Sugar, two bags of rice, three bags of Maize flour) that was donated to the Missionaries of the poor-Good Shepherd Centre in Kisenyi. Uganda Cup Winners, Viper SC was involved in delivering the materials.
Seeta Archdeaconry Marathon-FUFA supported the activity where the FUFA President, staff and Executive members took part in a marathon to raise funds towards the refurbishment of the House of the Lord. The Religious leaders of Seeta Archdeaconry also used the event to pray and rally support for the crucial Nations cup qualifier between Uganda Cranes and Comoros at Namboole which we won 1-0 to qualify for the continental soccer show piece in Gabon.
National team prayers
FUFA sought divine intervention by coordinating with religious leaders to hold prayers for the National team as they headed into international engagements against Burkina Faso and Comoros.
The reception was immense at the places FUFA President, Executive members, staff and national team players visited at National Mosque in Old Kampala, Wandegeya Mosque, Ahmaddhiya Mosque, Rubaga Cathedral, Namirembe Cathedral, Victory Church, House of Worship and Seeta Archdeaconry.
External relations
FUFA has continued its relations with the football communities both at local and international level who support the development of the beautiful game.
FUFA President handing over a Cranes Jersey to Uganda’s Honorary Consul to Botswana Dr. Sebastian Okello-Wengi before the AFCON Qualifier away game in Francistown.
Buganda Masaza Cup
FUFA donated 100 balls towards the organization of the 2016 Masaza Cup. The balls were handed over to the Minister of Sports in the Buganda Kingdom Owek. Henry Sekabembe at FUFA House. FUFA also cemented its working partnership with the kingdom by offering to help in the areas of technical and administration of football.
Busoga Masaza Cup
FUFA handed over 40 balls to the organizing committee of the inaugural Busoga Masaza Cup 2016 with the final due next weekend.
FUFA gave a lot of guidance to the Busoga kingdom on how to set up the entire tournament. We shall continue to support other cultural institutions within our means that are directly promoting football in the communities.
Future
We intend to complete the Communications Policy &Strategy and also to undertake the FUFA House Beautification project that will include display of pictorial moments in the corridors and offices of FUFA of the big and historic moments in the 92 year history of FUFA
- Infrastructure
In the past, FIFA has provided resources to its members to improve on infrastructure. These resources are not managed by FUFA but directly between FIFA and the Contractors Below are the previous Goal Projects
FIFA Goal 1: Construction of FUFA House-Mengo (400,000 USD)
FIFA Goal 2, 3 & 4 Construction of FUFA Technical Centre-Njeru (1,400,000 USD)
FIFA has since changed its approach to funding infrastructure closing the Goal Project and opening up the FIFA Forward Programme where more resources have been provided.
The Artificial Turf – Njeru Technical Centre
We plan to undertake infrastructure projects in the following areas;
FUFA House
- Rehabilitation and improvements
- Alternative Energy
- Security Equipment
FUFA Technical Centre
- Completing the Perimeter wall
- Grass Pitch
Kadiba
- Pitch, Accommodation, Offices, Training Rooms and Dressing Rooms
Lugazi
- 20,000 Seater Stadium
Namboole;
- International Match Standard Beach Soccer Pitch
We also intend to complete the acquisition of land in the following areas;
Walukuba, Kyamate, Nakaseke and Soroti
These developments have raised the total FUFA Assets from
UgX =4,648,938,394= as at 30th / June / 2013
Up to
UgX =7,949,433,289= as at 31st / December / 2015
- Technical Development
FUFA believes in technical development of the game for a better future. We have undertaken a number of interventions in order to develop the game to better standards.
CAF A Coaching Course
Youth Football
We have recruited a full time Youth Development Officer to undertake the FUFA Youth Project
Grassroots Programme
Grassroots football is the introduction of football to children of the age 6-12 years. FUFA has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Local Government (Ministry in control of Primary Schools) and MoES to provide for the grassroots programmes in Primary Schools curriculum
Together with FIFA, we have undertaken the Grassroots Programmes in the regions;
- Kampala (Old Kampala SS, Nabweru-Kawempe, Luzira SS-Luzira and Lugogo)
- Eastern (Jinja-Main Street Primary School)
- Buganda (FUFA Technical Centre-Njeru)
- Western (Mbarara-Kakyeka Stadium)
- North Eastern (N/A)
- Kitara (N/A)
- West Nile (N/A)
- Northern (N/A)
About 135,000,00M UGX has been spent in this programme where 105 coaches have been trained
U17 National Team Programme
Under MatiaLule and Peter Onen as the Coaches, we registered for the 2015 AFCON U-17 Qualifiers where the national U-17 team won 4 consecutive matches on the continent playing very entertaining football;
- Seychelles vs. Uganda (1-2)
- Seychelles (3-0)
- Rwanda vs. Uganda (2-3)
- Rwanda (4-0)
- Zambia vs. Uganda (2-0)
- Zambia (1-2)
The products of this programme so far is Mohammed Shaban of Onduparak FC as one of the best players in the Azam Uganda Premier League. He is the leading scorer as of today in the top flight league.
FUFA Juniors League
We have introduced the U-17 League competition for the Azam Uganda Premier League Clubs as a club licensing requirement and for the Non-Premier League sides. Currently the 2nd edition (UPL Clubs) and 3rd edition of the Non-Premier League sides are going on.
For the UPL-U17 Competition, FUFA provides the following incentives to the UPL Clubs;
- Equipment (Uniforms, Boots, Bibs, Balls etc)
- Paying a monthly financial contribution to the salary of the U17 Team Coach
- Refereeing expenses
- Financial contribution to the teams for the Transport to away matches
- Training of Team Coaches
- MRI Tests to determine the age of players
2017 CECAFA U17 Championship
FUFA intends to host the U172017 CECAFA Championship in January 2017. The objective is to provide the players of the U-17 Junior League international exposure at the right age
ARS
As financed by Airtel, FUFA continues to organise the U-17 Airtel Rising Star Programme from competitions at the District Level to national level for both boys and girls. Already the senior national team has Faruku Miya, Kezironi Kizito, Martin Kizza as some of the products of this programme
AIRTEL U17 Rising Stars
Uganda Youth Football Association (UFYA)
We have admitted to full membership the UYFA. As a member they have already benefitted from the FUFA Financial Assistance to its Members.
The Future
The FUFA Youth Strategy has been designed and in addition to the existing activities already listed above, the following are lined to be done;
FUFA Primary Schools Competition-DFA Level
Licensing of Academies
Schools of Excellence
Database of Players
WOMEN FOOTBALL
FUFA takes women football as an important development segment of the game in Uganda and has undertaken programmes to ensure its nation-wide development. When we took a bold step to withdraw from continental competitions, we were ridiculed but our objective which we have so far achieved was to extend the opportunity to play for more girls in Uganda than spending hundreds of millions on about 20 girls only. We opted to introduce girls’ club football. We have 16 clubs in the FUFA Women Elite League.
Competitions;
We have introduced, financed and organised the following football Competitions
- FUFA Women Elite League (2014/5, 2015/6 & 2016/7)
- FUFA Women Cup
- Regional Leagues
- Maama Baker,
- National Post Primary Schools Competition,
- Independence Cup
Equipment;
FUFA provides Uniforms, Boots, Bibs, Balls, nets etc to each of the FWEL Clubs;
Courses
Specific courses have been conducted to create awareness and also impart skills to the technical administrative personnel in the game of football
FIFA CommUnity Course raised the awareness of the Media and the support has been immense since
The FIFA Coaching Course for Coaches of Women Football has also been organised
National Team
We returned to international football when we played a friendly match against Kenya in Kisumu.
We also played 5 international matches during the CECAFA Women Championship that Uganda hosted in Njeru. FUFA exclusively financed the championship where not less than 200 m UGX was spent
The Crested Cranes at the FUFA Technical centre during the 2016 CECAFA tourney
We now believe it is the right time to return to the continental football as we have proper structures that can generate a proper representative national team
Women in Football
FUFA has undertaken steps to provide for involvement of more women in the administration of the game of football. The recruitment policy at FUFA has been very sensitive to gender balance as we currently have a woman at Director Level and others at Manager and officer levels. With the proposed statutory amendments, the number for women in the FUFA General Assembly will now be guaranteed as a minimum of 4 out of 88 compared to a minimum of none in the existing statutes. The expected minimum women representation is as follows;
The FUFA Women’s Elite League
1 for the FUFA Women Elite League;
1 for the Female Referees
2 for the Uganda Women Football Association
Coaching
Magida Nantanda has excelled in development as a CAF Coaching Instructor conducting various courses in coaching in Uganda and abroad.
Faridah Bulega has also established herself and even coached the males’ team in the 2nd Division League (FUFA Big League). She won the FUFA Awards for the Best Coach Category for 2015
FUFA Awards
Nabweteme Sandra was awarded with a new car as the 2016 FUFA best woman footballer. This has motivated many girls and the competition for 2016 Winner is stiff. This helps to improve the game of football amongst the girls
FUFA Awards 2015-Sandra Nabweteme receives her award
Support to Excelling Athletes
FUFA extended financial support for Air ticket and Visa for Nabweteme Sandra considering her excellent performance to join university education in the United States at South West Oklahoma State University. We have received reports that she is performing very well developing her career in football and education. Definitely in future in addition to Jean Seninde (QPR in England), Laki Otandeka (USA), Shiraz Natasha (Denmark), Sandra will be invited to represent the national team.
BEACH SOCCER
Uganda Beach Soccer Association (UBSA) has been admitted as a member of FUFA. From individual enthusiasm to now a very organized member of FUFA. We have continued to have beach soccer as one of our integral development activities.
Referees; We now have 3 International Beach Soccer Referees who have been officiating CAF and FIFA games throughout Africa. We organise fitness tests for referees for Beach Soccer.
Competitions; There are 7 various competitions being organised by UBSA. The Main Competition is the UBSA league which has now been successfully played for the last 6years
Courses; we have continued to organise courses in refereeing and coaching of Beach Soccer
National Team; for the first time the National Beach Soccer national Team (The Sand Cranes) has played international friendly matches and CAF Competitions against Ghana home and away
CECAFA is planning to introduce the CECAFA Beach Soccer Competition and definitely the Sand Cranes will have obtained a platform to compete regularly and internationally.
FUTSAL
FUTSAL is being formulated. Competitions are being organised and FUFA continues to monitor. Equipment, Rules, Referees and Coaches have been planned for 2017.It is an emerging aspect of football
Education
When one needs results for a year plant Maize, when one needs results for a decade plant trees but when one needs results for a generation, educate people.
This is exactly what our approach has been in capacity building in the areas of Coaching, Refereeing, Sports Medicine and Administration
We recruited a fulltime Education Officer and we have since facilitated him to create a football education infrastructure. With the completion of the training room in 2014, the centre has been buzzing with various courses.
From 28 CAF C coaches in 2013, currently we have 14 in CAF A (27 waiting certification), 39 in CAF B, 117 in CAF C, in and addition to 30 coaches enrolled for Goal Keeper, Fitness, FUFA Level-1 and the Beginners.
We have introduced the coaching practicing license to ensure professionalism is exhibited.
The Education Manual has now been completed to guide on the following;
- Funding of Courses
- Procedure of Application
- Schedules
- Minimum Requirements
FUFA has also embarked on the training of trainers in the regions to ensure that we have enough teachers to sustain the football education agenda in Coaching, Refereeing, Sports Medicine and Administration
Germany Coaching Programme; we have revived the collaboration with the Germany Federation where we had always been allocated 2 slots annually for training.
This year Mathias Lule attended the course. Upon application, Kasule Mujib had been appointed by FUFA to attend the course but later turned down the offer. We believe in the coming years many more coaches will benefit from this programme that is partially funded by FUFA
Exchange Programme; we are also exploring the possibility of the exchange programme with other FIFA Member Associations where our Administrators, Referees and Coaches may be taken to work in a more professional environment with the hope that they will bring back an experience to help improve Ugandan football.
REFEREEING
Refereeing is a key function in football development. As FUFA we have seriously undertaken Refereeing management, welfare and development.
Referees at the final of FUFA Uganda Cup-Nakivubo Stadium
Manual; we produced the Referees Manual that guides the operations of the refereeing sector. Hitherto, Refereeing operations were not guided by any written procedure.
Grading; we have introduced the system of all referees being sent from the RFA to FUFA. We now have a list of referees (FUFA Referee Badge) who handle national competitions and those that manage the RFA Competitions. FUFA Provides the National Referees with the basic refereeing equipment.
Openness; we have brought down soliciting, lobbying, God fathering, patronage, rumour mongering and many similar vices that were rife in refereeing by being open and fair to all. We have put in place a procedure for proposing referees for the international list to FIFA. It is about medical and physical fitness and then FRSC recommends to the FUFA Excom where the final list is approved. We always announce the names sent to FIFA openly and this has reduced tensions and underhand methods hitherto used
Promotion; the nation-wide promotions exercise was conducted and results obtained. This was their first of its kind in 4 years
Independence; the FRSC undertakes its decision and operations in the areas of appointment, assessment, training and monitoring without any interference from the FUFA Executive Committee or any other party.
Disciplinary Measures; Referees that do not deliberately nor inadvertently interpret and apply the FIFA Laws of the Game are always sanctioned. This improves the level of performance of referees
Payment; the payment of referees for the other competitions is still a challenge in amount and schedule of payment. However, for the Azam Uganda Premier League, on top of clearing the outstanding dues of the previous seasons, we have increased from 20,000 UGX per referee to averagely 150,000 UGX
FUFA Young Referees Programme; we have started a programme of training referees for the age young than 18 years as the basis for the future. Currently, 31referees (24 male, 7 female) have been trained and are gaining experience by officiating the U17 FUFA Juniors League. We believe after 10 years these will be the best referees in Africa
Youth Referees coaching Course at Njeru
PLAYERS
Players are the number one stakeholders in the game of football. We have found it prudent to admit the Uganda Football Players Association to FUFA General Assembly. Unlike before, the working relationship between UFPA and FUFA is good.
The UFPA has set up its structures; elected its leaders, and have benefited form the FUFA Financial Assistance Programme to setup an office.
UFPA has represented its members in matters of dispute with their employers and has also undertaken programmes to educate its members on their contractual responsibilities and career guidance.
The idea of the above-40 competition to be organised by UFPA supported by the FUFA Competitions Department is in the offing. The objective is to keep the former star players near the game
The FUFA players Status Committee has also advised, amicably settled disputes and where appropriated adjudicated on matters of the status of the players
The FUFA President has continually met with the Ex-internationals to pick their mind about the game
Training Compensation for clubs that raise the players during development is wanting and we need to devise means to protect those in talent identification and development
- National Teams
The Uganda National Teams have participated in various competitions over the three years as indicated in table 8.1
Having failed to qualify for the 2015 AFCON, we quickly sat down and analysed our challenges. We shared them with government and other stakeholders in a symposium at Imperial Royale where many thought we had wasted money
We highlighted 8 pillars required for Qualification
| 1 | FUFA | FUFA has improved tremendously on the logistics and welfare
|
| 2 | Coaches | The Coaching Courses, Competent and Facilitated Uganda Cranes Technical team |
| 3 | Media | Supportive and Promoted the matches and activities
|
| 4 | Facilities | A lot has to be done in this Area
|
| 5 | Resources | Sponsorship, Fans attendances, CAF, FIFA and Government provided resources |
| 6 | Government | HE the President provided the Good Will and Resources
|
| 7 | Club Football | Club Football was synonymous with wrangles but Stability in Club football has allowed FUFA and the locally based player to concentrate on football |
| 8 | Players | We observed that our players were playing in leagues that could not compete. There is a growing shift of our player to better leagues
|
In order to improve on the logistics and preparation, we decided to recruit a fulltime Staff as the National Teams Officer in Patrick Ntege.
There has been a tremendous improvement in the performance of the Uganda Cranes.
Uganda has largely stabilized in the top 15 countries in the FIFA ranking in Africa hitting the best ever FIFA Ranking of 12th Africa and 62nd in the Word
Currently only Uganda amongst the 25 nations in the East, Central and Southern Africa is still running for both AFCON 2017 finals and World Cup. To be more precise, Uganda is currently rubbing soldiers with Africa’s other best 12 footballing nations thus Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Mali, Cameroon and DRC. Only Uganda amongst these has neither hosted AFCON nor been to the World Cup.
Whereas the Uganda Cranes had made Namboole Fortress, qualification to AFCON still eluded us because our perennial poor away results irrespective of the opposition
In the last 5 away matches of AFCON and World Cup in the last one year, Uganda Cranes has won 3 (Comoros, Togo, and Botswana), drawn 1 (Ghana) and lost 1 (Burkina Faso-Penalty). This excludes beating Nigeria in Nigeria (International FIFA friendly).
Incidentally this has not come accidentally and by luck like some schools of thought but has been achieved through immaculate planning, hard work and execution by FUFA, the Coaches and the Players
Logistics
The FUFA management & Staff have tremendously improved on the logistics support. Co-ordination of invitations and travel of all the players required by the coach from all over the world, Equipment, Training Camps, international friendlies, motivation & welfare, accommodation and travel plans may go unnoticed without any major incident in the last three years. There are unseen fighters such as Edgar Watson, Decolas Kiiza, Crispus Muyinda, Mohammed Kalema, Sharon Nalunga and many others who have directly worked tirelessly to ensure seamless logistics arrangements.
Technically
Our Coaching Staff have been tremendous. From identification, distance coaching, analysis of ourselves and opposition, training, following, statistics, video clips, man management, trial matches, technical decision making, counseling, motivation, game reading and tactics. I applaud the Head Coach Micho, Moses Basena and Fred Kajoba. The Medical Staff have been extra ordinary. We have not heard cases of missing players due to sickness or injury. Doctors Kisolo Ronald and Physiotherapist Sewanyana Ivan have been responsible for the availability of the players for selection free from medical impairment
Results
There has been a growth amongst our player ranks. The senior players in Dennis Onyango, Geoffrey Massa and Tonny Mawejje have provided the experience and performances. The young players have grown in stature. We now have players in Portugal, Denmark, Belgium, Finland, Russia, United States and S. Africa while the ones trading in the region thus Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda have gained the necessary experience.
The FUFA President, the Executive Committee and the staff have co-ordinated the machinery of mobilising the necessary resources, providing and supervising, creating a family of players, coaches, staff and FUFA Executive Committee.
Once again it is thorough planning, hard work, commitment and execution that has given divine intervention and luck a platform to deliver Uganda to the table of Men in African Football
Conclusion
If it were an aircraft, we have delivered Uganda to the runway ready to take off. The commercial viability of FUFA today as obtained from the Sporting Results, marketing approach, governance structures, strategic planning and Togetherness can now generate the resources required to undertake long term development that will sustain Ugandan football at the highest.
We however need the tested crew to manage the takeoff and cruising of the Ugandan Football Aircraft
It is Our Game, It is Our Country
