It is time to separate men from boys in club football

Immanuel Ben Misagga

It is a foregone conclusion that clubs in the topflight of Uganda football will never be united until institutional clubs agree to a shared responsibility when the going gets tough in times of injustice.

Over the last decade, clubs such as KCCA, Police FC and URA FC have always shunned any efforts to rally behind other clubs. 

Those clubs that attended the meeting are chaired by unprincipled, conflicted and are mere budget managers that can afford to front personal interests over institutional interests of the league. 

Inside their heart of hearts they support the cause of other clubs but are unable to pronounce themselves because of selfish interests
In that regard, it came as no surprise last week when leaders of the aforementioned clubs tried to woo other Uganda Premier League clubs to join a meeting with a panicky Fufa, under pressure to be ethical.

The real shocker was having SC Villa and Vipers there as the rest of UPL clubs boycotted this sham meeting purportedly aimed to ‘discuss the upcoming 2020/2021 season while sweeping the dirt of the 2019/2020 under the carpet.’

Fufa’s tactic was a plain attempt to seek a truce with clubs in spite of the glaring evidence of Fufa’s display of gluttony when it comes to sponsorship money. Like Nelson Mandela once said, only free men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot. In this case, clubs are prisoners. They have a board whose membership is not reflective of any club leadership.

UPL clubs have a CEO who was quoted in the media saying that he is not accountable to them. UPL clubs further have a Fufa vice president who doesn’t represent a single club. 

Worse still, whatever UPL clubs decide can be vetoed by Fufa not to mention that it is the federation that negotiates financial deals without UPL.
So, in every sense, UPL clubs ‘cannot breathe.’ 

In that regard, whatever the five clubs agreed on can only be detrimental to the empowerment of UPL. 

The biggest positive from all this is that the majority of clubs boycotted, including Express’ Kiryowa Kiwanuka and Busoga United’s Diana Nyago. I’m most impressed with these two because for the past few years, Fufa has been trying to manipulate and massage them. 

So, this sends a strong reminder to Fufa that the days of ordering around clubs is over even though that cannot be said of my beloved Villa, which is quickly becoming Fufa’s favourite lapdog. 

The sight of Villa boss William Nkemba dodging the media after the meeting was really sad and shows the guilt of his actions, especially when you put into perspective Villa’s proud heritage as a powerhouse in Ugandan football. 

Can you imagine Fufa putting a leash on Villa under the leadership of Franco Mugabe or even Fred Muwema? It’s impossible. Even for KCC, a firm leadership of Jack Ibaale wouldn’t just coil at the whims of a federation led by a certified un principled group.
Unfortunately, the current Villa leadership is a sellout to Fufa because that is the only way it can win boardroom matches to survive the drop.

As for Vipers, it is understandable they are returning the Fufa favour after being rewarded the league title on a silver plate but that may come back to haunt them in the coming years,never surrender your MUWABUTWA before you die.

The forceful and unscheculed fufa meeting was meant to diffuse the clubs' attempt of seeking govt attention by organizing a sham consultative meeting which later degenerated into fufa responding to issues in Minister letter and announcing dates of the league. This is info that could have been communicated in a letter.

So, as clubs seek a way forward, now is the time to know who is a mole in the fight for justice and equity.

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