On Wednesday 19th June 2024, the Honorary FUFA President Dr. Lawrence Mulindwa and Owner of Vipers SC while presiding over a press conference made serious allegations that require my response in order to avoid miscommunication with the football public.
The Allegation
That having observed Vipers SC had a better ‘goal-difference’than BUL FC, someone (interpreted to be FUFA President) single-handedly decided to introduce new kangaroo rules of ‘head-to-head’ instead of ‘goal-difference’ so as to disadvantage Vipers SC.
The Facts
1. The FIFA and FUFA Statutes bestow upon the Executive Committee the duty to draw and amend regulations without undermining the sporting integrity. FUFA set up a Rules Review Committee that receives, debates and proposes all FUFA Rules changes to the FUFA Executive for consideration.
2. The 2023/24 FUFA Competitions Rules were duly passed by the FUFA Executive Committee and communicated in circular No. 1176 issued on 13th September 2023 before the kick-offof the 2023/24 Season. These Rules among others introduced‘Head-to-head’ ahead of ‘goal-difference’ to rank teams that tie on points when need arises.
3. The spirit behind the change of this rule was a very likely potential situation of teams going into a goal race that may bring the game of football into disrepute. We all know that after the 22-goals saga that happened 20 years ago, the league has not yet recovered from this damage. We also observed at the end of last season that both Vipers SC and KCCA FC, that scored genuine goals in their respective final matches of the season, could have been interpreted as a predetermined goals’ race when both scored 10 goals and stood a chance of winning the league by goal difference.
4. As the FUFA President, I observed a glaring gap created by the league organisers, clubs, the media and general public ranking teams using ‘goal-difference’ instead of the ‘head-to-head’ as per the FUFA Competitions Rules 2023/24. It is within the mandate of the FUFA President to direct football in Uganda in accordance with the rules and regulations set without undermining the sporting integrity.
Conclusion
It is therefore incorrect for Dr. Mulindwa to refer to these regulations as kangaroo rules and regulations done by an individual to disadvantage Vipers SC or advantage any team.
FUFA respects the persons investing their personal money and time into football, treats all clubs equally and we do not favour any team.
When Vipers SC played in the CAF Champions League group stage, all participating clubs were subject to CAF Regulations that apply ‘head-to-head’ as first tie-breaker option and ‘goal-difference’ for all matches as 6th option to rank teams in the group.
I also take this opportunity to remind the media that they should be professional enough at any Press Conference to engage and ask questions that could help the public to follow.
Finally, Club Chief Execuitve Officers (CEOs) should read the rules and regulations and advise technical staff, administrators, owners and everyone else at their clubs to avoid misinterpretation of information and details in the documents sent by FUFA.
It is Our Game, It is Our Country.
