The Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) president, Eng. Moses Magogo addressed the media on Tuesday, 22nd December 2015 at FUFA House in Mengo where he delivered the end of year message.
www.fufa.co.ug brings you the detailed speech in verbatim.
We are a Nation
We are Uganda
It is Our Game, It is Our Country
FUFA President- End of Year 2015 Message
Dear Fellow Countrymen,
I am here to deliver my end of Year message and I will talk about 4 areas;
I am most privileged to be delivering an emotional end of Year message to the football and general public of Uganda.
By addressing the media and broadcasting live on 102.1 FUFA fm, I believe millions of our followers on the various FUFA Communication platforms will receive this message undistorted.
1) Message of Appreciation:
Let me thank the Almighty God for the gift of life, health, wisdom and peace that has enabled us to go through the year.
I further pray to the Almighty to heal those in pain and trouble and also to judge those who have fallen in the year with mercy for their earthly works.
I thank H.E the President of the Republic of Uganda, General Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and the entire Government of Uganda for the national development programmes and the peaceful environment that has enabled us enjoy the most beautiful game and also for the unprecedented financial and moral support to FUFA and the national football team.
By the entire government amongst others I must mention the office of the Vice President, the Right Honourable Prime Minister, Minister of State for Sports and the National Council of Sports.
I also take the opportunity to thank the entire FUFA Family comprised of the FUFA Executive Committee, the Staff, the Committees, FSLL Board & Staff, the Judicial Bodies and the Delegates for setting and implementing the regulations, policies, programmes and development activities.
The Members of FUFA, the football Clubs and schools have been quite instrumental in the achievements we have registered in 2015 and I herewith register my appreciation.
The investments and player development activities by the clubs have helped the national team achieve the ray of hope we see now.
Members of the Media:
You have done a good job covering FUFA activities.
The mass education and information dissemination and also the positive criticism from the fourth estate has helped FUFA register many of the achievements of 2015.
We thank you for the support.
We could definitely not have been able to achieve what we have registered in 2015 had it not been the foundation laid by the previous football administrators.
I inherited an institution that was in takeoff mode having been prepared by Mr. Lawrence Mulindwa and the previous 25 FUFA Presidents and Executive Committees in the 90 year history of our organization.
We would not have achieved our heights had it not been for Airtel Uganda, our Official Sponsors of the Uganda Cranes and also Nile Special, BIDCO, NIC, Azam T.V and Pepsi that have financially contributed to our activities.
I also applaud all the other sponsors of football.
We have also received a lot of support from various government agencies and strategic partners inclusive of the Uganda Police, CAA, Immigration, KCCA, URA, UPDF, the kingdoms, the religious organizations, Sky Hotel, Africa Bible University, Vienna College Namugongo, Planet Fitness, Namboole and Nakivubo Stadium and many others we may not mention here
I am most humbled to register our appreciation of our dear fans that have through the thick and thin supported the Uganda Cranes, the other national football teams, the clubs right from the 1st to the 5th Division, the schools, Bika, Masaza and all other football competitions that we have undertaken as a country.
FUFA is proud to be affiliated to UOC, CECAFA, CAF and FIFA; and we have benefited by obtaining material, financial and competitions support.
There have been a number of individuals who have guided me in person as the President of FUFA.
Mr. Lawrence Mulindwa, Hajj Omar Mandela, Prince Kasim Nakibinge, Mr. Bbale Mugera, Mr Godfrey Kirumira, Mr. Patrick Isiagi, Captain Ibrahim Sekajja, Mr Haruna Mawanda and many others who have been on call to congratulate and guide me and consequently FUFA.
We may not have achieved anything had it not been that telephone call or a few minutes of the meetings we held with the distinguished gentlemen mentioned.
And most importantly, I wish to thank the athletes thus the players, the coaches and the Referees who are the foot soldiers who get into the thick to earn the sporting results that we all celebrate and own.
Mr. Milutin Sredojevic the head coach of the Uganda Cranes and his technical medical team, the entire coaching industry in Uganda, football administrators, the Uganda Cranes Team Captains, Geoffrey Massa and Faruku Miya and the entire football players and the Referees at all levels who endure the harsh conditions to officiate the matches, no words can describe my appreciation of your input.
This long list of institutions and individuals to thank demonstrates our effort we have undertaken to unite and bring on board everyone. ‘United We Stand and Divided We Fall’.
2) Ray of Hope:
2015 has been a good year for football in sporting and non-sporting achievements but these are just signs of recovery and not the end itself.
We started off the year with the Symposium and whatever we have undertaken has not been out of just luck but also meticulous planning, a lot of hard work and expertise by many unsung heroes.
The Institution;
FUFA as an institution has matched and exceeded the demand of service provision.
With increased activities and programmes, the FUFA Executive Committee, Staff and the entire football family has had to improve on provision of more quality and quantity in terms of Human, Time and Financial Resources.
There have been more planning and budgeting activities. We have also improved on reporting of our activities.
The convening, conducting and recording of Statutory and emergency meetings has been improved and also the Statutes and Regulations have been improved to address previous gaps and challenges.
The new look of the FUFA Secretariat Reception has given the home of football a fitting corporate stature.
The membership of FUFA has been improved by admitting the Players and Youth Associations and electing their leadership.
The clubs have re-organized the FUFA Super League Limited Memarts and electing a new leadership that is working professionally with FUFA.
I believe we have a stronger institution now than ever before that can support the industry which is rapidly changing.
Funding:
As I stated in my manifesto, our approach to this area has been twofold thus utilizing efficiently the meagre resources available and generating more revenue.
Finance:
We have only been able to finance our multitude of activities because of frugal means and internal control systems to avoid resource leakages.
We have played 25 international matches in 2015 and had it not been proper planning, we could have failed to achieve this.
The players are now being paid into their bank accounts.
We were able to complete our statutory accountability reporting for the period ended 31st December 2014 when a non-qualified audit opinion and Statement of financial position was presented to the FUFA General Assembly and the general public.
This conclusively addressed the wrong misconception that FUFA does not account for funds received.
Currently our final accounts are at display at the reception of FUFA House.
There has also been an improved revenue generation from Sponsorship and government funding.
For only 2015, 1.5 and 1.3 billion UGX has been generated from sponsorship and government funding respectively.
FIFA also provided conditional grants of over 1 million USD for the development of the game.
Marketing and Communications:
This has come from proper strategy, advocacy, marketing concepts and building the brand of Ugandan football.
We have continued to grow the FUFA and Uganda Cranes brands to the appeal of many corporates that have continued to identify with our activities.
Our professional approach and communication strategy has improved our Public Relations and the image of FUFA has improved.
The vibrant digital platform, direct dialogue with the sports editors and USPA and the acquisition of the 102.1 FUFA fm has improved our engagement with the public and a lot of feedback has been received and utilized.
At the beginning of the year we promised to revamp the FUFA Awards and I am excited to register the glamorous night where the best Male and Female football players were massively rewarded for excellence on pitch.
A lot will be improved in the 2016 Glamour event.
Relations:
Our strategy has always been reconciliation, dialogue, accepting positive criticism, openness, accommodating dissenting views but keeping to the Statutes and Regulations.
This has brought down a lot of conflicts and has united many hitherto foes.
We have a lot of improvement in relationship with the clubs and our members.
After the unfortunate incidents in Ntungamo at the Final of the 2015 Uganda Cup, the two clubs’ officials all aggrieved in gross magnitudes agreed to give football an opportunity with the replay.
KCCA went further to pay over 320m UGX in taxes for the artificial turf that will be utilized by many Ugandans.
It was the highest level of maturity where the game exceeds each one of us and special thanks to KCCA and SC Villa Jogoo.
We have done a lot of advocacy and mass education of our programmes and direction.
Many people have been converted to start believing in us and our programmes.
We have been able to win many who were sitting on the fence and those that did not believe in us at all.
This general increased good will has given us a public perception that is only pushing us further forward.
Sporting Achievements:
There have been a number of successful sporting activities registered in 2015.
The traditional competitions were held and concluded thus the 1st to 5th division leagues, Uganda Cup, Women and Youth Competitions.
However a few innovations and achievements were registered in the following areas;
1) We were able to start the FUFA Juniors League for the boys U.17 years and currently every Azam Uganda Premier League Club has an U.17 team as a minimum requirement.
2) The FUFA Women Elite League was organized and concluded and the second edition started as well.
Kampala, Buganda and North East Region have also organised Regional Women Leagues.
Our strategy was to give more girls opportunity to play football before we engage in international competitions for the various national teams.
3) Beach Soccer National Team played its inaugural CAF matches. Uganda now has FIFA Referees for Beach Soccer.
FUTSAL organization is taking shape with various competitions.
4) Our Education programme continued throughout the year with Refresher and Certification Courses in Administration, Coaching, Refereeing and Sports Medicine.
In 2015 we have finally registered 12 CAF A, 28 CAF B and 73 CAF C Coaches.
Club CEOs have also been certified by FUFA. We also have 5 CAF Instructors.
5) Players Development:
There has been a lot of player profile development and achievements on the international scene.
Geoffrey Massa signed at Bloemfontein Celtics, Kizito Luwagga signs for Rio Ave, top league club in Portugal, Onyango Dennis is currently arguably the best Goal Keeper on the African Continent, Yasser Mugerwa signed at Orlando Pirates from URA, Okwi Emmanuel signed for Sonderjyske FC in the Danish Top League Club, Matovu Sula signed at Kaizer Chiefs while Bukenya Ivan becomes a regular at the same Club.
Jamal Salim took El Merriech to Champions’ League group stages while Aucho Khalid is named amongst the top midfielders in Kenya while Miya Faruku was named by BBC in the best XI for November after the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia qualifiers.
6) We qualified for 2016 CHAN finals scoring 8 against 1 (penalty) and also won the 14th CECAFA Title using an 85% U.23 Player Squad. These players are an integral part of our Project Cameroon 2019.
7) We stand top of group D with 6 maximum points from the 2 group games for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers and we are in the final group stage of the 2018 World Cup Russia Qualifiers after beating Togo home and away on a 4-0 goal aggregate. On the way to these sporting achievements, we have won 6 away matches, lost only to Kenya in CECAFA for the senior National Team competitive matches and Uganda registered the highest returns on the African Continent for the competitive matches at a winning ratio of 78%
8) Uganda hit its highest ever FIFA Ranking 63rd in the World and 13th in Africa. The advantage of the rankings is when draws are done, Uganda gets good seeding and yet top seeded teams normally in group games start and finish at home
3) Challenges in 2015:
It has not been a bed of roses as many challenges were encountered;
Resources; insufficient human and financial resources remains a huge challenge to the game.
The game needs more quality and quantity human resource in the areas of Players, Coaches, Referees, administration, Managers, Sports Medicine and other Professional Support Practitioners.
The national team engagements continue to take over 50% of the FUFA budget and yet development should be given priority for brighter future.
Whereas we have received a lot of financial support from government, it remains not standardized in the national budget and is still insufficient compared to what our competitors get form their respective governments.
The Salaries of the coaches, Air tickets, and players’ bonuses and allowances should be a concluded responsibility of the State and clubs representing Uganda on the continent should be availed a support budget by government as the case was in the early 1990s when our clubs competed in finals of Africa.
The Law:
The monkey of the archaic 1964 NCS Sports Law has never been addressed. There is no way you can fix a law done 50 years ago in an industry changing per hour with regulations.
Like many countries in similar situation before have done as early as the 70s, someone has to do a job here before we descend into another decade of anarchy.
Infrastructure & Equipment;
Wherever there is a ball and a field, a football star will be borne. With an increasing population and grounds being given away to development, the pressure on the surviving areas that are poorly maintained has caused us a big worry how we can produce the stars of tomorrow. It is one huge challenge FUFA alone cannot solve but we are doing a lot of advocacy and partnership with Local Authorities, the Monarchies, the Religious Organizations and Sports loving individuals.
Amateur to Professional:
We continue to be challenged by the many years that amateur football has been here.
The road to professional sport requires all of us but many people amongst the key stakeholders are stuck in the amateur mindset. Football changes per hour and I call upon all of us to wake up to many new realities and the demands of the modern game and the modern consumers of our game
CECAFA Presidency:
It is our big plan that we push as many people as possible in more positions of influence in international football.
With a revolution that was started in 2005, Ugandan football seems to be taking a positive turn and it is not by accident that it is Only Uganda that is engaging the continental powerhouses and most outstanding in the region.
Our belief therefore was to extend the revolution to what has been done to Uganda to the entire CECAFA region unfortunately we lost the CECAFA Presidency and a huge opportunity as a region due to factors beyond us as Uganda and East Africa.
The Rest of the Challenges are operational and are the reason we chose to be in these position to try and find solutions
4) Our Activities for 2016:
As we start in 2016, we have lined up a number of areas of priority but most importantly, is to sustain and improve the various programmes and activities we have started.
We shall continue with our policy of football development ahead of politics.
The priority areas in 2016 will include;
Project Cameroon 2019; we shall continue with our agenda to improve the 8 pillars required for qualification to AFCON 2019 in Cameroon.
We shall continue to compete in the CECAFA 2016, CHAN 2016, AFCON 2017 and 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.
However, positive short term results in on-going competitions will continue to be considered as a ray of hope but not to carry us away from our long term plan.
Goal Project V:
We intend to apply and hopefully obtain FIFA Goal Project V where we shall undertake construction of infrastructure in the regions.
We are in final stages of acquiring land in the regions of Kampala, Eastern (Jinja), Buganda, Western (Ntungamo) and North East (Soroti).
Clubs Pro Agenda:
There will be more intervention with clubs to improve on their internal structures and both sporting and commercial viability and long term planning
FUFA Inter Regions:
We intend to revive the FUFA Inter Regions Competition in 2016.
Schools of Excellence; the Schools of Excellence idea is a top priority.
Hosting CECAFA Women and U17; we intend to host the CECAFA U-17 (Boys) and Women in August and December 2016 respectively such that the best of the FUFA Juniors League and the FUFA Women Elite League are put to international test. We intend to register the Women National football team in CAF and WC competitions in 2017.
CAF U-20; in the available resources, we could not register for all underage competitions available and our strategy is to regroup the boys who participated in the U-17 CAF competitions 2 years ago and the output of the National Post primary Schools Competitions in the U-20 National Team that has been registered for CAF competitions.
Conclusion:
Gone are the days of football wars.
It is a new era of dialogue and long term planning.
We can all be involved and we should therefore jealously guard against return to confusion.
We should condemn all agents of war that may arise.
It is not by accident that the ray of hope has also come when relative stability was being enjoyed in football for the first time in a long time.
We can disagree in approach but we do not have to resist development in the names of individuals we do not like.
Individuals come and go but our game remains.
We have all contributed to the signs of hope achieved in 2015 and we should toast to better times ahead.
It is therefore my pleasure to once again thank all of you for your various contributions to the development of the game of football. On behalf of FUFA and on my own behalf I wish you a Merry Christmas and Prosperous 2016.
Avoid breaking traffic rules and in particular “Please do not drink and drive”. You may save your own life or that of an innocent person.
Together we have to witness Cameroon 2019.
It is Our Game, It is Our Country
