Buganda Region Football Association (BRFA) this Sunday afternoon created and adopted the new statutes to be used in football governance within their jurisdiction.
The 21 delegates present kicked off the exercise with a resolution to constitute themselves into the first Buganda Regional General Assembly as a requirement under the new FUFA statutes.
FUFA senior Vice President in charge of Administration Eng. Moses Magogo was in attendance to guide the debate on behalf of the federation. The meeting took place at FUFA headquarters in Mengo. Below were some of the highlighted areas:
1. The geographical territory of jurisdiction of the region will include the 17 counties (Masaza) of Buganda Kingdom,( ie) Buvuma, Bugerere, Kyaggwe, Buruuli, Bulemeezi, Singo, Buwekula, Mawokota, Busiro, Gomba, Busujju, Butambaala, Buddu, Kabula, Mawogola, Ssese, Kooki and parts of Kyadoondo that are outside the Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA) demarcations.
2. BRFA shall have the Regional League clubs, players, women, youth, coaches and schools football associations as its ordinary members.
3. Bika Football Association (BFA) and Masaza Football Cup Organizing Committee (MCOC) were adopted as associate members of BRFA.
4. Each of the former four FUFA zones will have a delegate to the FUFA General Assembly but elected by BRFA assembly. The 5th delegate to be elected by all DFA representatives.
5. In a bid to separate powers, the assembly further resolved that:
(i) If a member is elected to the FUFA General Assembly, he automatically loses his administrative positions at the regional level if any.
(ii) The BRFA Executive committee members shall not hold a delegate’s position at the Regional level as it has been in the past.
6. The delegates to the FUFA General Assembly shall under article 30 (2d) of these statutes be tasked to address the annual regional General assembly on their performances. This will help the regional assembly evaluate individual performances of the six delegates to the FUFA assembly.
7. BRFA shall only convene an extra-ordinary Regional General assembly if 50% of its members make such a request in writing.
8. BRFA executive committee shall be composed of only nine (9) members who will include the chairperson, 1st Vice Chairperson, 2nd Vice chairperson representing Regional League clubs, 4 members drawn from the four former FUFA zones, one representative of the interest groups and one woman.
Meanwhile, the assembly echoed the need to split Buganda and create the second region, a move VP Moses Magogo said would have his personal support when brought before the next FUFA General Assembly.
FIFA Development Officer Ashford Mamelodi, FUFA president Lawrence Mulindwa and CAF executive Member Eng. Leodgar Tenga in Kampala last year during the FUFA statutes amendment exercise. The amendment exercise now goes down to regions and interest groups.
FUFA will this Sunday, January 13 2013 flag off the exercise of re-aligning association football on standard statutes among different members of the federation.
The exercise follows an adoption of amendments to the FUFA statutes on August 25 last year in which it’s a requirement that all member associations establish themselves in compliance with the provisions therein. The FUFA Executive committee has therefore directed that all FUFA Member associations amend and adopt their statutes accordingly and submit copies to the FUFA Executive committee not later than January 31st.
Regional Association Chairmen will convene the regional assemblies in their respective administrative units to carry out this exercise. These regional assemblies will be composed of the current DFA delegates within that region. Buganda, Eastern, Mid North and Kitara will convene their assemblies this Sunday while Western, West Nile and North East meet on January 19. Kampala Regional meeting is scheduled for January 20 at Lugogo Oasis.
FUFA will send a special delegate to each region to oversee the exercise. Eng. Moses Magogo goes to Buganda, Counsel Alex Luganda (Eastern), Edgar Watson (Kitara and West Nile), Letti Mike (Mid North), Magoola Issa (Western), Dr. Ogwel Patrick (North East) and Mpima Sam will be in Kampala Region.
Vice President Mujib Kasule will be in charge of the FUFA Super League clubs and the Big League elections whose adopted statutes must be availed to FUFA not later than the same date.
FUFA has also set January 25-27 as the dates for the special interest Groups that will include women, referees, coaches, players, beach soccer and the school football associations.
I welcome you all to this End of the Year Press Conference and I hope we all had a wonderful Christmas. I thank God for helping us all complete 2012 peacefully and hope the New Year 2013 will be much better.
FUFA has registered achievements and challenges in 2012 which will guide our assignment in 2013. Below are some of the achievements:
1.Statutes amendment:
Ugandan FA President: Lawrence Mulindwa
With consultation and guidance from FIFA, CAF and CECAFA, we have been able to put in place a new FUFA amended constitution which was officially endorsed by the General Assembly on August 25th, 2012 at Pope Paul Memorial Hotel. The new statutes will help address any football related challenges that affected football in the past.
2.FUFA-Govt. relationship:
We have maintained a cordial working relationship with the central government throughout the year. We are grateful to the Minister of Education and sports Hon. Jessica Alupo, the State Minister for Sports Hon. Charles Bakabulindi and the National Council of Sports (NCS) among others, who have stood by our side
(2b) Uganda Olympic Committee
Despite the challenges within the Uganda Olympic Committee, FUFA has had a good working relationship in which a course for elite coaches that was held in Makerere University was secured under the Olympic solidarity arrangement.
3.CAF President’s visit:
We invited and hosted the CAF President, Dr. Issa Hayatou from November 23 to 25. We are optimistic that his three day visit to Uganda will bear fruits starting this coming New Year. During his visit, Hayatou was able to hold talks with the FUFA Executive Committee and met H.E the Vice President of Uganda, Edward Kiwanuka Sekandi among other activities.
4.FUFA Super League:
The amendment of the statutes of the top tier league created the ‘FUFA Super League’ which is on running with 16 clubs. The participating clubs instituted an independent board to manage it and it’s already operational. Their offices are located at Green Land Towers in Kampala City Centre. The 16 FUFA Super League clubs are now individually direct FUFA members.
5.CECAFA-Tusker Cup:
We successfully hosted the 36th edition of the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup (CECAFA Tusker Cup 2012) and emerged champions after edging archrivals Kenya 2-1 in the finals. This was Uganda’s 13th CECAFA title since 1973 and the 4th win in the same competition since we assumed offices on 17th December 2005. Uganda produced the tournament’s top scorer (Robert Sentongo), best player (Brian Omony) and the best Goal Keeper (Hamza Muwonge).
6.Stand-by Generator
We conclude this year with a modern standby generator, fully installed at our headquarters in Mengo. The 70KV generator was a donation from our partners-National Insurance Corporation (NIC). We are grateful to them for this kind donation.
7.License Plus FIFA donation
FUFA has installed a fully connected automated player registration and licensing soft ware (‘License +) which will be fully operational starting the 2013/2014 season. This soft ware is the first of its kind in Africa and will simplify our operations in the players’ registration exercise. We are grateful to FIFA for facilitating this process
8.Cranes show against Zambia
Although Uganda failed to qualify for the AFCON 2013 finals due in South Africa early next year, the Cranes had a good performance against continental champions Zambia. The Cranes’ 1-0 victory in the normal time is partly the reason for our most recent 86th position in the FIFA Coca Cola rankings. Cranes is now a big brand which should be generously protected by all of us.
9.World Cup 2014 campaign
We wind up the year with 2 points from two matches so far played after forcing a crucial draw against Angola in Luanda and resisting a defeat against Senegal in Kampala. We are left with 4 matches, two of which are home engagements against Angola and Liberia. Cranes will play Liberia and Senegal away. The current table standing gives us equal opportunities to advance to the next stage.
10. CAF License ‘C’ Course:
We conducted a CAF License ‘C’ course for Super Division and a few FUFA Big League club coaches. This was a CAF requirement and out of the 39 participants, 28 obtained the required pass mark for the award of the CAF License C.
11.Youth Football:
The Hippos (U20) competitively participated in the CAF Africa U20 Championship ejecting Mozambique and losing narrowly to African Youth champions Ghana.
12.Competitions Committee
All Leagues in the country were successfully concluded within the stipulated time of 30th June. We successfully organized the Bell Uganda Cup and for the first time, we had the finals held out of Kampala in Pece Stadium, Gulu district.
The Club Licensing process was successfully undertaken and concluded putting Uganda among the few compliant member associations as per CAF requirement.
All the basic sets of rules have been formulated and approved ; namely: The Club Licensing Regulations; Rules on the Status and Transfer of Players; The FUFA Super League Rules and The FUFA Big League Rules.
13.Women football.
FUFA organized several women football activities across the country geared towards developing women football further. Liser Berg, a woman Technical Consultant from USA continues to help the federation promote football development. A course for female coaches was conducted in January with 38 participants.
Kawempe Muslim School won the girls overall football trophy at the East and Central Africa Secondary Schools Championships held in Burundi in August 2012.
14.Media Relations:
We have been able to hold our weekly press conferences throughout the year. We commend the members of the press for positive and timely reporting of FUFA/Football activities.
15.FUFA-Airtel Rising Stars
FUFA partnered with Airtel to hold the U-16 Airtel Rising stars tournament for boys and girls in all regions, with the finals taking place in Jinja.
16.Discovered new talent for national team
Several players featured for the Cranes in the WC/AFCON qualifiers, international friendlies and CECAFA and impressed our technical team. Some of the exceptional talent we discovered includes Godfrey Baba Kizito, Joseph Ochaya, Robert Sentongo, Saidi Kyeyune, Nicholas Wadada and Moses Oloya.
17. Beach Soccer:
FUFA in partnership with Uganda Beach Soccer Clubs Association successfully organized the first fully fledged beach soccer clubs League, corporate league, women tournament and the inter University competition.
18. MTN-FUFA inter region competition
With sponsorship from MTN, FUFA held a successful inter regional competition in Arua where Eastern emerged champions. FUFA appreciates the continued support from MTN and we are optimistic that this partnership will continue to tap new talents from the grassroot.
Key Challenges encountered:
Despite the enormous efforts put in to ensure qualification to Afcon 2013 finals, we narrowly failed to qualify. The limited funding of football activities was yet another leading challenge.
We commend the founders of Uganda Cranes Initiative for appreciating the challenges FUFA has been facing especially in regard to funding our national team by subsequently launching a cash drive through the UCI.
We thank UCI for all the support they extended to our victorious CECAFA team and we will continue to work hand in hand.
To all our sponsors, we are grateful for the support extended towards football activities in the country. MTN
I also wish to thank in a very special way the football fans in this country for the support showed throughout the year.
Our focus in 2013:
FUFA will be looking to consolidating our registered achievements in 2012 as we scale up new heights. The immediate targets include:
Ensuring successful 2014 World Cup qualifiers by preparing Cranes well.
Maintaining a good working relationship with FIFA, CAF, CECAFA, government and our sponsors.
Organizing international friendly matches for our national team.
Solicit sponsorship for the FUFA Super League, Big League, FUFA Regional leagues, beach soccer league, women league and other football activities.
Implement the new constitution and finalize the process of creating new statutes for regional and lower levels.
Assemble a competitive team of locally based players to participate in the CAF organized CHAN competition.
Continue working towards unity among all stake holders for purposeful intentions related to football development.
Conduct free and fair elections at all levels later in the New Year.
Organize more courses in areas of refereeing, coaching youth coaching and administration among others.
Promote and develop further women football.
Engage the underage teams into preparatory matches.
Keep up our supervisory role in all association football related matters.
Maintain the culture of holding FUFA weekly press conferences for purposes of information dissemination and accountability.
Strengthening the FUFA Secretariat by appointing Competitions Director, Commercial Director and Director Finance, among others.
Further promote beach soccer.
Conclusion:
The Year 2013 will require a continued collective effort from all stakeholders. Football must be put at the helm and we work towards its consolidation and development.
Those opposed to our leadership must start preparing for the elections due in 2013 other than wasting resources in useless court battles.
FUFA will continue to resist any selfish acts that contradict association football rules in this New Year. We will enforce the FUFA Constitution to the latter.
Uganda Cranes takes on their arch-rivals Harambee Stars of Kenya in the anticipated thrilling finals of this year’s Cecafa-Tusker Cup this evening at Mandela National Stadium, Namboole.
The two sides played the official opening match of the tournament on Nov ember 24 with Uganda Cranes edging the visitors 1-0. Kenya struggled into the finals after dumping Zanzibar 4-2 on spot kicks. Their normal time had ended 2-2.
Uganda Cranes goes into today’s finals with an advantage record of having conceded no goal against the eleven the team has scored in five games they have so far played.
Uganda opened up their title campaign with a 1-0 victory over Kenya, edged Ethiopia on the same margin before walloping South Sudan 4-0 in their last group stage match. In the Quarter finals, the hosts still played Ethiopia as second best losers who conceded 2 unanswered goals.
Next in their way was Tanzania who also failed to match the Cranes performance when they lost 3-0 in the semi finals. Tanzania now plays Zanzibar in their third place match to decide the winner of the USD 10.000 prize.
The Uganda-Kenya game will be played at 6:00pm. Thiery Nkurunziza (Burundi) will be the centre referee assisted by Mussie Kinde (Ethiopia) and Mohamad Idam (Sudan). The standby referee is Mohamed El Fadil from Sudan and Tariq Atta (Sudan) is the match commissioner.
The winner walks away with a cash prize of USD 30.000 with another USD 20.000 going to the losing team. The tournament is sponsored by East African Breweries limited (EABL) through Tusker, one of their favourite brands.
In 2009, Kenya lost to Uganda 1-0 in the finals of the same tournament.
Brian Umony scored the cranes’ sole goal against Ethiopia to push Uganda into the quarter finals of this year’s Cecafa-Tusker Cup.
The Uganda Cranes on Tuesday afternoon became the first team ‘A’ in the region to qualify for this year’s Cecafa-Tusker Cup quarter finals after registering a second consecutive win.
The Cranes edged Ethiopia 1-0 in their second group stage fixture to go top of the table. KCCA FC player Brian Umony netted the Cranes’ sole goal in the first half of the game. Earlier in the day, Kenya had beaten South Sudan 2-0 to create themselves chances of qualifying into the knock-out stages.
Coach Bobby Williamson hailed his boys describing their performance as having been very good despite the slim win. His counterpart confessed, he had played a brilliant side. Ethiopia is the only country in the Cecafa region that qualified to play in the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Uganda now has six points with one game at hand against South Sudan. Kenya is placed in the second position with 3 points and 2 goals ahead of Ethiopia with 3pts and one goal. South Sudan has so far lost all its first two games.
The Uganda Cranes beat bitter rivals Kenya 1-0 on Saturday in their opening game of the 2012 Cecafa-Tusker Cup going on here in Kampala.
In the earlier played game, Ethiopia edged South Sudan by the same margin at Nelson Mandela National Stadium in Namboole, Kampala.African Football Confederation [CAF] President Dr Issa Hayatou was chief guest during the Group ‘A’ encounters in which Kenya suffered a dent to their hopes of coming out of the pool as quarter finalists.
Uganda and Ethiopia, straight away became hot favourites to proceed while Kenya and debutants South Sudan threatened with early elimination.Geoffrey Kizito scored for Uganda in the 73rd minute to crown the Cranes’ clear dominance during the entire match.
Harambee Stars poorly defended a free kick taken by Dennis Iguma from outside the box on the right flank. Kizito struck from close range past a helpless Duncan Ochieng’.While Kenya ought to have equalised at the death when a long throw-in by Enoch Agwanda dropped on the goal line and was twice knocked by Kenyan legs but mysteriously did not cross, they were largely outplayed by the Cranes who were superior in ball control and movement.
Kenya had to make one forced change to the line-up announced hours to the match as striker Mike Baraza exited with sickness to be replaced by Ramadhan Salim. After a quarter of an hour, all the running was being done by the Cranes and Brian Umony, Kizito, Moses Oloya and striker Emmanuel Okwi had the Harambee Stars furiously defending.
The Kenyan attack had no natural striker deployed and the diminutive Salim was at the front of converted midfielders picked to play the role. The support of Humphrey Mieno, Clifton Miheso and Anthony “Muki” Kimani completely lacked bite.
It had been a 6pm kick-off and when teams returned to the pitch after the first half, a power black-out hit a section of the stadium and it was 10 minutes before the lights went on again.
Uganda showed no slow-down effect after the interruption but Harambee Stars almost hit them with a good counter-attack move initiated by substitute Paul Were which almost resulted into a Kenyan lead.
But in diving at the feet to cut off the final ball, Cranes ‘keeper Abbey Dhaira was badly injured. After writhing with pain on the pitch, he was replaced by Hamza Muwonge but still looked in deep distress during a doctor’s attention on the touchline and was then rushed to hospital in an ambulance.
After Uganda’s goal, Kevin Omondi split the Cranes’ defence for a ball into the box for Mieno who should have had a better effort in connecting for a decent shot at goal.
Kenyans showed some cutting edge in the final 10 minutes but a relaxed Uganda defence effectively saw off the period.TEAMS:
UGANDA – 1. Abbey Dhaira (18. Hamza Muwonge, 60’): 16. Hassan Waswa (captain), 6. Dennis Iguma, 15. Geoffrey Walusimbi, 4. Henry Kalungi, 5. Isaac Isinde, 13. Moses Oloya, 3. Geoffrey Kizito, 7. Emmanuel Okwi, 10. Brian Umony (9. Robert Sentongo, 90’), 11. Hamisi Kiiza
CAF boss Issa Hayatou arrived in Kampala Thursday evening
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Mr. Issa Hayatou arrived in Kampala Thursday night.
Hayatou was received at Entebbe International Airport by the FUFA President Lawrence Mulindwa and the Cecafa leader Eng. Leodgar Tenga among other dignitaries.
The continental football leader will this Friday morning attend the Cecafa congress at Imperial Royale Hotel starting 10am. Together with Mulindwa and Tenga the trio will address the press conference at the same venue at 2pm.
A special dinner organized in recognition of his visit to Uganda has also been organized at Serena Hotel today evening.
Hayatou is in Uganda on a special joint invitation by the FUFA president Lawrence Mulindwa and Cecafa leader, Engg. TengaHe will meet the FUFA executive on Saturday morning before he proceeds to Mandela National stadium to preside over the official opening ceremony of this year’s Cecafa-Tusker Cup later in the evening.
FUFA wishes to inform the press and the entire public that the CAF President Mr. Issa Hayatou has accepted to visit Uganda on a special invitation extended to him by the FA President Mr. Lawrence Mulindwa and CECAFA President Eng. Leodgar Tenga.
The Continental football leader is expected in the country in the evening hours of Thursday, November 22. His visit is partly in recognition of FUFA’s continued efforts that have seen Uganda’s football steadily developing to better levels. Uganda is currently ranked 86th in the World’s FIFA rankings away from the 117th position in 2005. We are 20th in the whole Africa.
Host: FUFA President Lawrence Mulindwa
Hayatou will be in company of several CAF officials who will include the General Secretary Mr. Hicham El Amrani. Other confirmed members of the delegation include Mohamed Raouraoua, Constant Omari and Ngangue Appolinaire. He will meet the FUFA Executive shortly after his arrival in Kampala.
During his stay in Uganda, the CAF President will also attend the CECAFA Congress at Serena Hotel on Friday, November 23 before presiding over the official opening of the Cecafa-Tusker Cup at Namboole stadium the following evening. He is also scheduled to hold talks with the Sports Minister Hon. Charles Bakabulindi before he travels back.
Uganda hosts neighbors Kenya in the opening match of the Cecafa-Tusker Cup at 6pm, November 24. FUFA is privileged to host such dignitaries and we are grateful to His Excellency the CAF President for accepting to visit Uganda.
Cecafa General Secretary Nicholas Musonye released the list.
Cecafa General Secretary Nicholas Musonye has released the official list of 16 referees for this year’s Tusker Senior Challenge Cup due to kick off in Kampala on November 24.
The officials, eight of whom are assistant referees will undergo both medical and fitness tests on November 23 just a day after their arrival in Kampala. Musonye has urged the referees to prepare effectively in order to avoid embarrassments when they fail to impress before their instructors.
The fitness tests will be conducted by retired FIFA referee Charles Masembe who is also a member of the CAF Referees committee among other officials. The full list is as below:
Refs:
Thierry Nkurunzinza (Burundi), Maeruf Mensur (Eritrea), Antony Ogwayo (Kenya),Hakizimana Louis (Rwanda), Ali Kalyango (Uganda), Mohamed Hussein El Fadhil (Sudan), Denis Batte (Uganda) and Israel Mujuni (Tanzania). Assistants: Mark Ssonko (Uganda), Mussie Kinde (Ethiopia), Peter Sabatia (Kenya), Idam Mohammed (Sudan), Hakizimana Ambroise (Rwanda), Kinduli Ali (Zanzibar), Clemence Erasmo (Tanzania) and Omar Abukar (Somalia).
Cecafa General Secretary Nicholas Musonye addressing journalists during the release of the official fixtures in Kampala on Monday
The Uganda Cranes will play rivals Kenya in the official opening match of this year’s CECAFA-Tusker Cup to be held here in Kampala starting November 24.
Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan constitute Group ‘A’ that plays the first two opening matches. Cecafa General Secretary Nicholas Musonye released the official fixtures during a colourful function held at Serena Hotel in Kampala on Monday.
“We expect high profile guests at this year’s event and I am grateful to our sponsors (EABL) for the continued support” Musonye remarked.
Sudan, Tanzania, Burundi and Somalia will battle it out in Group ‘B’ while Rwanda, Malawi, Zanzibar and Eritrea are in Group ‘C’. Uganda will be looking to winning her 13th Cecafa challenge Cup title since 1973.
Uganda and Kenya last met on October 8, 2011in Namboole when they registered a goalless draw to deny Uganda a slot into the Africa Cup of Nations Finals.
Ethiopia and South Sudan will play the first game at 3pm before the Cranes take on Harambee Stars.
The Cranes lost their most recent game at Namboole on a 8-9 heart breaking penalty shoot-out to African champions Zambia who are headed for the AFCON finals in South Africa in January.
Uganda’s 1-0 win however helped move them from the 91st position to 86 in the FIFA rankings released this month.
Somali National team that participated in the same tournament in Dar es Salaam in 2011
Somali National football ‘A’ team, ‘The Ocean stars’ touched Entebbe International Airport Friday night to start preparations ahead of this year’s Cecafa-Tusker Cup that kicks off on November 24 here in Kampala City.
FUFA Protocol officer WOI Boniface Oryem was at the Airport to receive the 13-man Somali delegation currently camped at Mandela Hotel adjacent Mandela National stadium. According to Amir Hassan, an advance party officer who arrived in Kampala four days earlier, the first group comprised only players.
Amir said 11 others were due to arrive in Kampala this Saturday evening while a few other professional players from UK, USA, Holland and Kuwait would join the team later. The Ocean Stars will have a two-week training here before the official kick off of the tournament. Somali Federation is meeting their costs until November 21 when Cecafa will take them over.
“Somali Football Federation [SFF] has done all efforts it could and we are hopeful of good outcome this year” Said the Federation Secretary General Abdi Qabi Said Arab in Mogadishu before the team’s departure on Friday.
He praised the efforts by the Somali football coaches outside the country whom he said had prepared talented players for their National side. Those coaches include SFF administrative representative in UK Abdi Olad Rage and Abdirashid Islow.
Somalia has experiencing one of the world’s most notorious civil wars for the past two decades, but becomes the sole country that had never missed a single international, continental or regional competition. Cecafa General Secretary Nicholas Musonye describes Somalia as ‘a football loving nation’.
Malawi will be the only guest team in this year’s CECAFA-Tusker Cup to be played in Kampala starting November 24.
Three countries including Cameroon and Zimbabwe had earlier showed interest in participating in the same tournament but the regional organising committee has preferred Malawi. CECAFA General Secretary Nicholas Musonye confirmed the development saying that Malawi has always proved a well coordinated, disciplined and competitive side in these tournaments. This will be the third consecutive time Malawi is participating as a guest team since 2010.
Malawi replaces Djibouti, a member country that pulled out of the tournament due to administrative challenges at home. Djibouti goes to polls to elect a new FA President this Saturday under the supervision of the FIFA officials. Cecafa referees committee member Houssein Waberi had by the beginning of the week remained to sole candidate for the seat.
The Cecafa-Tusker Cup draws will be conducted in Kampala on Monday. The other participating countries are Tanzania, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Sudan, Burundi, Eritrea, Somalia, Zanzibar, Kenyai and hosts Uganda.
The Somali National team arrives in Kampala this Friday to camp here a head of the tournament kick off. An advance party from Mogadishu is already in Kampala to make the necessary ground preparations.
Cecafa General Secretary Nicholas Musonye will be in Kampala this weekend to monitor the progress on the Tusker Cup.
The Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) General Secretary Nicholas Musonye has confirmed Monday November 12 as the date for the release of this year’s Cecafa-Tusker Cup fixtures. The tournament kicks off on November 24.
Speaking to www.fufa.co.ug from his offices in Nyayo stadium, Nairobi City Thursday evening, Musonye said he would be travelling to Kampala on Sunday to embark on the pre-event preparations.
East African Breweries Ltd (EABL) the tournament sponsors are yet to name the function venue. On arrival in Kampala, Musonye will hold a meeting with the Local organizing committee Sunday evening. He will also hold a meeting with EABL officials on Monday morning before addressing the press conference at 1:00pm.
After the release of the fixtures, the cecafa boss will visit all the hotel facilities booked for teams/officials and pay a courtesy call to Namboole stadium management. His day ends with another meeting to be attended by the members of the marketing committee later in the evening.
On Tuesday, Musonye will hold a joint meeting that will be attended by Cecafa officials, FUFA and the sponsors (EABL) before he flies back to Nairobi in the evening.
Those opposed to the leadership of President Lawrence Mulindwa have resorted to use of the ordinary Courts of Law to throw him out of office after two failed attempt via well organized elections. The FUFA elections are next year.
After the withdraw of a court case against the current FUFA Executive by Mbale District delegate Latif Mafuko last week, another similar case has been filed by his co-delegate Zubair Galiwango challenging the legality of the current Executive committee.
The case is filed in the High Court at Nakawa under the Civil suit No.278. Galiwango who formerly served as an assistant Secretary during the regime of the late Denis Obua (RIP) is represented by WEB Advocates and Solicitors.
In his case, Galiwango seeks a permanent Injunction order restraining the current FUFA Executive from continued stay in office on allegations that its tern lapsed by a dissolution of the General Assembly. He also wants a permanent Injunction order stopping all the activities of the FUFA Executive, its agents, servants and/or employees forthwith.
The Mbale delegate is further seeking a Court declaratory order that the FUFA Super League Board headed by Hajji Abbass Kawaase is running its activities illegally.
The Federation has already dispersed off a team of respectable City lawyers headed by O.H.A Ochieng, Harimwomugasho & Co. Advocates to follow up the case before the Honorable Courts of Law.
The continental defending champions, Zambia registered a 9-8 slim spot kick win against Uganda Cranes on October 14 in Kampala after 1-1 draw. FUFA has revealed new strategies to stop such loses.
Saturday October 13th emerged yet another heart breaking day in Ugandan football history when the country failed to end the long wait into the Africa Cup of Nations finals by narrowly losing 8-9 on spot kicks to Zambia, the continental Champions. It’s now 35 years!
FUFA wishes to:
Thank all the fans who turned up at Namboole to support the Cranes.
Applaud our sponsors (MTN, Nile Special and NIC) for all the support.
Commend the government for the good will towards the team and the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, ministers MPs and all politicians for gracing the event.
Hail the Religious leaders who stood with us in prayers.
Thank all media houses for the work well done.
To the players:
Our players offered their best and losing 8-9 on spot kicks after a 1-0 win against the African defending champions in the 90 minutes wasn’t a bad result though we failed to qualify.
To Captain Andy Mwesigwa and teammate Patrick Ochan who failed to convert their penalties should not look at this act as a crime. Such scenarios are common among key players. FUFA Still treasures your contributions in this team.
Though lost the campaign, the Cranes maintained its winning culture at home in the 90 minutes. We commend you for that.
Head coach Bobby Williamson
The Technical bench:
Coach Bobby Williamson, his assistants and the entire technical bench, we appreciate your efforts. Thanks so much.
FUFA commitment:
We offered all what was required of us in the build up towards this game. These included:
Assembling all the players as requested by the head coach.
Flying out a team to Zambia for the first leg.
Started training earlier than ever before (Sept 19-Oct 12).
Organized an international friendly match against Botswana away in Gaborone.
Maintained all the 26 players (the biggest squad ever) in camp until the last day.
Paid all the players’/officials’ allowances and bonuses on schedule. etc
Our next focus
We shall reward our players/officials with cash prizes for this effort.
Evaluate the team’s technical performance for immediate action.
Maintain the squad in focus for future field engagements.
Identify the team’s weak areas for rectification
Consolidate the team’s strength.
Arrange more international friendly matches for build ups.
Host and defend the Cecafa-Tusker Cup due in Kampala in November.
Prepare the home based team for the CHAN competitions slated for next year.
Put up a spirited fight in the remaining matches of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
Conclusion
It was all done but God’s response wasn’t in our favour. His choice is no appeal! We therefore have nobody to blame for the country’s another failure to qualify for the Afcon 2013 in South Africa, NOT even ourselves. It was just hard luck!
Musonye Serena Hotel in Kampala during the launch of this year’s Cecafa-Tusker Cup. He has urged teams to start preparations for the region’s biggest annual football event.
At least five nations including the Africa Cup of Nations defending champions, Zambia have applied to participate in this year’s CECAFA-Tusker Cup to be held in Kampala between November 24 and December 8.
The other four nations are Cameroon, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Cote D’Ivoire, the 2012 Afcon finalists. Cecafa General Secretary Nicholas Musonye however says, the regional body will have to meet and make a decision on whom to invite. The meeting is expected after the return leg matches of the final round of the Afcon 2013. Uganda plays Zambia in Namboole on Saturday October 13 after a slim 1-0 loss away in Ndola.
Malawi and Zimbabwe were the two guest teams last year in Dar es salaam with Zimbabwe falling to Uganda Cranes on a 1-0 result in the semi finals. Malawi was dumped at the quarter final stage. Musonye said the decision to invite guest teams would depend on the vacuum created by member countries.
Musonye appealed to all member countries to prepare their teams well and take the event seriously since this is the only zone in Africa that organizes competitions regularly. He at the same time stated clearly that they will not tolerate indiscipline and disorder from members.
“Our football cannot develop in a noisy and disorderly environment. Any element of sabotage, incitement and defiance will be dealt with appropriately. Our members have the obligation to respect the decision of CECAFA because it is their organization” said Musonye.
Musonye further reminded members to confirm their participation in writing by October 8.Those who would not have confirmed by that date will not be engaged in drawing of lots and fixtures scheduled for November 8th in Kampala.
Meanwhile the preparations for the same tournament are progressing well in Uganda. CECAFA, FUFA and EABL through Uganda Breweries are committed to deliver a successful event.
“With EABL support, we have had two successful events in Tanzania and their commitment to support CECAFA and its members is a huge investment” said Musonye in praise of the sponsors who will invest USD 450.000 in this year’s event alone.
All matches will be played at Mandela National stadium-Namboole and will be shown Live on Super sport.
FUFA President Lawrence Mulindwa has defended the recently announced charges for the Cranes game against Zambia as being fair given the deductions set to return to government in form of taxes among other costs.
FUFA President Lawrence Mulindwa consulting his Executive member Rogers Mulindwa and the CEO Edgar Watson during the Press conference on Wednesday. The President pleaded to fans to turn up in big numbers at Namboole stadium on October 13.
The FA President said he appreciates the concerns from the football fans on the high charges but explained that the actual figure which goes to FUFA after making all the deductions was still small.
The FUFA Marketing and sponsorship committee on September 20 announced the charges as being UGX 40.000, 75.000 and 120.000 for the ordinary, VIP and the Gold class tickets respectively.
Mulindwa said 18% (UGX 7200 from each of the 40.000 charged ticket) returns to government coffers in form of Value Added Taxes (VAT). This totals to UGX 288.000.000 if 40.000 fans access the stadium through this ticket category only. Unlike with other national events, the FUFA President further disclosed that UGX 70.000.000 caters for police expenses to guarantee the security of fans and their property.
He was reacting to questions from journalists during the FUFA weekly press conference at the federation headquarters in Mengo this Wednesday morning. “Namboole stadium wants UGX 3000 charged from each ticket.
In total, the stadium will take home UGX 135.000.000 out of the proposed 45.000 tickets” the Federation President revealed. CAF, the continental Football body has an entitlement of 4% and FIFA takes 2%. This brings it to 6% which is a representation of UGX 96.000.000 only on the 40.000 charged tickets.
The costs above total up to UGX 590.000.000 without including other expenses like the return tickets for the professional players, training expenses, professional allowances and ticket printing costs among many others. FUFA also pays for match officials’ tickets, full board accommodation, internal transport and their allowances. During the Cranes match against Congo Brazzaville alone, USD 15500 (About UGX 39m) was spent on match officials from Morocco and Benin.
The FA President maintained that the federation would not reduce on the charges unless the government intervened on the taxes. “The charges remain so unless the government offers a cost free stadium, police accepts to offer a free service or VAT waived” Mulindwa explained to an attentive audience of journalists.
Mulindwa finally pleaded to the fans to consider the Cranes match as a fundraising drive and watch the game. He promised ‘fatty’ bonuses to the players in case Uganda advances to the finals in South Africa. Uganda hosts Zambia on 13th October, 2012 in Namboole.
Cecafa General Secretary Nicholas Musonye delivering a speech during the launch of the Cecafa-Tusker Cup in Kampala last month
The Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) held its Executive Committee meeting in Dar, Tanzania this 13th day of September 2012 as mandated by the Members Special meeting held in Seychelles two weeks ago.
The meeting in Seychelles attended by all the 12 members, requested the chairman of CECAFA to convene the Executive Committee meeting and clear the controversy regarding the hosting of the CECAFA-Tusker Cup 2012.
In Dar, the members of the Executive Committee in the good interest of CECAFA looked at all the documents related to the change of venue from Kenya to Uganda, and also the contractual obligations between CECAFA and East African Breweries Ltd with a view of safeguarding the interest of all parties involved.
The Committee took note of the fact that during the General Assembly in Dar last year Kenya was earmarked to host the event, but at the same time, the General Assembly was informed of the contractual obligations between CECAFA and the sponsors and the fact that the sponsors will have an input on where the event will be held in regard to their alignment in the region.
It should be noted that EABL are the brand holders of the event. But it is the regional branches, the subsidiary Breweries in various countries that fund the event. The case in Tanzania was Serengeti Breweries, while in Uganda it is Uganda Breweries who are committed to funding this year’s tournament and have already launched the 2012 event in Kampala.The committee therefore resolved that the 2012 CECAFA-Tusker Cup will be staged in Uganda and urged all CECAFA members to start preparing their teams. The Committee re-affirmed that CECAFA will always treat all its members fairly in the spirit of promoting football in the region. They noted that Kenya has always played host to CECAFA competitions and would be glad to give Kenya another opportunity to stage any of the CECAFA competitions in the near future.
The Committee further noted the region needed to work with Sponsors to promote the level of football in the zone and proposed to further seek another three year sponsorship with EABL who have been reliable partners of CECAFA for the past three years.
Buganda Region Football Association (BRFA) this Sunday afternoon created and adopted the new statutes to be used in football governance within their jurisdiction.
