I take this opportunity to salute all Ugandans and the supporters of Ugandan Football. It is the first of my monthly communications that I will be making to share my vision and experiences in the office of the FUFA President.
On the 31st August 2013 in Jinja, I was elected FUFA President by 68 votes out of 73 that participated in the election. I believe the 5 votes were just a mistake by the voters but I stand to believe that I will be supported by the entire FUFA General Assembly. Thank you very much the FUFA Delegates and I will work hard not to disappoint your confidence in me. I will strongly to work in close relationship with CECAFA, CAF and FIFA as they stand for development and upholding the rules of the game.
On 11th September 2013, Mr. Lawrence Mulindwa physically handed over the office to me. I once again applaud him to pass on the button of top football administration when he could still win unopposed and I shall work closely with him to take football to the next level. It is a legacy that all football administrators in Uganda must embrace.
Congratulations Messages
Upon election, I have been overwhelmed by congratulation messages from individuals and organisations. I cannot thank each one of you for it would be endless but notably the FIFA President herein quoted “I am certain that your knowledge and personal qualities will have an important impact on the stable development of our beautiful game in your country” CAF President, CECAFA President, the Football associations of Jordan, Zambia, Senegal, Japan, England to name but a few.
Status of the top league football
Top league football is currently engulfed with personalities, greed, egos, intrigue, wrangles and court battles and it’s not healthy for the game. Club football is highly deficient of quality and quality human resource in the areas of coaches, players, administrators, specialised support services professionals, sports medicine specialists, referees, fans etc
Football is played on the pitch and enjoyed by the people in this country. I will continue to steer FUFA to work tirelessly with all stakeholders to ensure that top league football is professional and cherished by all.
I take this opportunity to rally the country and to call upon all people involved in this matter to think beyond self for these matters as the only way to find a lasting solution. We have an obligation as a current generation to our grandchildren.
National Teams
Uganda Cranes; Despite the top drawer preparations of the Uganda Cranes with international matches Tanzania in Dar salaam, Tanzania in Kampala, Egypt in El Gouna, Botswana in Gaborone and a camp in Turkey, we did not recover from earlier unfavourable results along the campaign. The players and technical team put up a solid performance that we are proud of and one that can be used more as a foundation for the future. Consequently, the road to 2014 Brazil World Cup ended but the road to 2015 AFCON Morocco and 2018 World Cup Russia opened. As FUFA we shall give our best shot and sooner than later, the 2015 AFCON Agenda will be launched.
I take this opportunity to thank H.E The President of the Republic of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the right Honourable prime minister, Amama Mbabazi, the Hon Minister of Education and Sports Rtd Maj Jessica Alupo, the Hon Minister of State for Sports, Charles Bakabulindi, the Hon Minister of State for Primary Education, Hon Kamanda Bataringaya, the staff of the State House, the staff of the Ministry of Education and Sports, the staff and officials of FUFA and the selected and unselected fans of Uganda Cranes for the historic and first of its kind, a chartered flight for the fans to support the Uganda Cranes to Marrakech, Morocco
I will further thank H.E the President of the Republic of Uganda, the entire Government of Uganda for the financial support that helped the team get as prepared as it was. The story would have been different without this timely help. Three hundred eighty four (384) million Uganda Shillings was received from Government. The preparations of the Egypt and Botswana friendly matches, the camp in Turkey, and the air tickets for players from their bases and back amounted to over Four hundred ninety (490) million shillings. This leaves the match in deficit of over One hundred (100) million shillings owed to one of the air ticket providers. All accountabilities and supporting documents have already been submitted to Government
Football Competitions
FUFA Super League; Despite the challenges affecting the top league in Uganda, FUFA Super League enters round 6 at the time of writing this monthly briefing with Soana FC and Olaki Francis as the new revelations.
FUFA Big League; the fixtures have been released and this week will see the 5th edition of the FUFA Big League Kickoff. This tournament has helped promote only teams that are ready to the top league, it continues to give the countrywide look to club football, and in structures, these clubs have 10 delegates in the FUFA General Assembly with a fully functional association.
Other Competitions; the Lower leagues will continue under the management of the Regional Football Associations while the Uganda Cup is still under preparations. I also take the opportunity to thank the organisers and participants of other FUFA authorised football competitions such as Masaza Cup, Bika Cup, etc
U-20 Women National Team
Over the years, girls’ football development continues through amongst others schools competitions. After the 2013 National and East African School girls’ football competitions, a selected U-20 Women National was prepared to play in the 2014 Canada, FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
To those who have been following the development of women football in Uganda, it was not a surprise that Uganda eliminated South Sudan on 22-0 goal aggregate. This home and away match did not cost FUFA less than One hundred twenty (120) million shillings in air tickets to Juba, air tickets, allowances, accommodation and local costs to 6 match officials, hosting the South Sudan team etc. It is still ironical that whereas FIFA give FUFA about Seventy five (75) million shillings for women football, the team will not consume less than Three hundred (300) million shillings as Uganda faces Egypt on 26th October 2013 in Egypt and 14 days later in Kampala. The South Sudan Game in Kampala did not gross one (1) million shilling in collections.
Executive Committee Meeting
On Wednesday 18th September 2013, I chaired the 13-003 FUFA Executive Committee meeting and the first one in my capacity as FUFA President. 115 men and women were appointed on various standing committees. Analysts made their views not appreciating that these committees are only supposed to help the FUFA executive Committee make good decisions at policy level but not to run day to day activities of FUFA. We have laid down Terms of Reference for the 18 standing and 5 adhoc committees and we have also set objectives of each individual committee to be achieved by 30th June 2014.
Ambassadors of the Uganda Cranes were named but details of their role and contribution are still being completed by the FUFA Secretariat.
Special Roles
Mr. Justus Mugisha was selected to head FUFA’s reconciliation mechanism while Mr. Kalibbala has been chosen to head a committee to make a thorough report of football facilities in Uganda and the way forward amongst other special tasks.SecretariatThere are a number of changes taking place at the hub of football in Uganda and that is FUFA House. The access control has been revitalised where staff have been issued with access cards to the building. The reception is functional and our guests need to go through security checks and reception before they access the interior of offices. FUFA staff members have been provided with more hours to work for football. I call upon our guests especially the football public to understand this as important for the game as more man-hours will be injected into the game for better football service delivery. The staff members have been re-allocated in roles. Each member of the staff has now a job title and job description. Objectives to be reasonably achieved by 31st March 2014 for each staff have been set. Those that prove that they are up to the standards by completing their objectives set by management will be offered performance based 3-year renewable contracts with improved pay while those that management will consider unsatisfactory will be replaced through a transparent recruitment process. The process to recruit the Finance Director, Commercial Director and Competitions Director has started.
Ms. Sumaya Hood has been brought in as the Personal Assistant to the FUFA President. Among others, she manages the appointments and the diary of the FUFA President. I take this opportunity to advise all persons and organisations that would wish to meet the FUFA President for official matters to access Ms Hood through the address papresident@fufa.co.ug or physically checking her out at FUFA House for an appointment.
Communications
FUFA will hire a consultant to the Communications Sector for a period of at least 1 year. He/she will be required to setup a communications strategy and work with the current personnel to setup roles and functions in the area of communications. The roles currently include a spokesperson who heads the TV, Radio and Print media unit, the Cyber Media Officer who will manage the mass mails, blogs, FUFA Chat Rooms, Forums, e-letter, website, social media and SMS platform and the Brands Communication Officer will basically interface Marketing with communications.
FUFA is in the process of changing official e-mail addresses to include the official FUFA domain thus xxx@fufa.co.ug instead of yahoo accounts
FIFA projects
Upon assumption of office, FIFA welcomed the new President and Executive committee with approval of a Goal Project worth 500,000 USD, Performance Programme, and two courses in Administration and Coaching. There has also been an approval for the second artificial ground and a consultant from FIFA will soon be in the country to confirm the location of the construction site.
Government on NCS Regulations
FUFA continued to dialogue with the task force that was set by the Hon Minister of Education and Sports to draft regulations for the operationalization of the 1964 NCS Act. She is applauded as the first Minister since 1964 to draw these regulations. FUFA however continues to express the dissatisfaction with the committee on its failure to listen and comprehend the dynamics of the associations and international affiliation requirements. Forcing associations to incorporate under the Trustees Act contravenes affiliation requirements for the case of FIFA. FUFA has received the legal opinion from independent lawyers contrary to the position of the committee. FUFA has also received written communication from FIFA confirming that the incorporation by Trustees Act contravenes FIFA statutes.
As FUFA we appreciate regulations that allow FUFA to continue transacting within the Ugandan law with external parties such as sponsors and partners, sue and be sued, own assets etc but also not to contravene with international (FIFA) affiliation.
Member Associations
FUFA is now composed of 8 regional football associations, 6 special interest group members, the FUFA Big League and 16 FUFA Super League Clubs. New Statutes and Elections for 30 out of 31 Members have been undertaken. A general assembly of 84 Delegates in Place, the Executive Committee elected, the standing committees of 115 persons named, the Judicial bodies in place and the Secretariat undergoing changes bring to completion a strong foundation of the structures of FUFA Work in Progress
Finance Systems
The FUFA Finance Manual was approved by the FUFA Executive Committee on its sitting on 18th September and comes into force on 1st November 2013. This is aimed at prudent and frugal means of handling finance matters at FUFA that I promised in my manifesto. It is also aimed at forcing budget discipline and management of cash flow.
Human Resource System
The Human Resource Manual was also approved by the FUFA Executive Committee on its
sitting on 18th September and comes into force immediately. This is aimed at efficient service
delivery of the FUFA Secretariat for the proper functioning of the other bodies of football.
Rebranding
FUFA is undertaking the “behind-the-scenes” activities to rebrand itself. The intention is to position FUFA commercial properties in a more appealing and satisfying manner to the
consumers and that is the fans, Government and the corporate organisations. This exercise will
also be launched along a set of innovations to widen the resource envelope to FUFA for more
aggressive football development programmes
Education Curriculum
The Education committee that was setup is undertaking the realignment and detail of the
Human Resource development curriculum in the areas of coaching, administration, sports
medicine and Refereeing
Conclusion
The current issues between FUFA and USL have exposed the real problem to Ugandan
Football as lacking structures of real football clubs. It remains a huge task to create football
clubs that can suit the current economic and sporting times.
FUFA is creating a programme called “FUFA Clubs Pro” where clubs in the FUFA Super
League and the FUFA Big League will apply and a set of expert instructors will sit with the club
management to create the 11 players that make a football club. For purposes of clarity, the lineup
of these players stands as follows;
1-Structure, 2-Finance, 3-Medical, 4-Facilities, 5-Stadium, 6-Team (the only player every Ugandan Club
has), 7-Youth Setup, 8-Marketing, 9-Fans Development, 10-Communications, 11-Events Management
Until the next edition, I pray to the Almighty to keep us safe, in harmony and thinking of
development. It is our game, it is our country
Eng. Moses Magogo
FUFA President
