In 2005, SC Villa was preparing to travel to Mwanza,Tanzania, for the Cecafa Club Championship when it became apparent the club was short of funds. In other words, Fufa and the National Council of Sports had no budget to cater for the trip.
As the Villa national fans coordinator, it took me just a few days to mobilise several club bigwigs for funds and we got enough to make the journey.
I remember at the time, Ugandan football was going through a transition phase after a series of embarrassing events and some Fufa officials questioned the worthiness of taking a hastily-assembled Villa squad to be ‘hammered.’
Even though we had Fufa’s half-hearted blessing, the club couldn’t turn down the opportunity to add to its rich legacy.
Off we set off by bus and when we reached Malaba, I remember a young Dennis Onyango jokingly ‘rueing’ a missed opportunity to board a plane for the first time.
When it came to the real competition, Villa players outperformed their expectations and won the competition without conceding a single goal, a record that stands to this day.
The real drama happened after the final whistle in the wake of the 3-0 demolition of Rwanda’s APR in the final. The team had run out of money so much so we were not even sure the hotel would accommodate us that night.
It was at that point that I reached out to Charles Bakkabulindi, who had just been appointed state minister of Sports, and my good friend Mike Mukula, to reach the president for support. Within a few hours, a call came in from President Museveni congratulating us for the victory. More importantly, he covered our bills and immediately chartered a special flight for Villa the following morning and we returned home as national heroes.
For this swift turn of events, Bakkabulidi played a key role that would later define his legacy as the bridge between sports and the president.
In fact, at the state dinner, the president gave us assurance of support to domestic football every time he is called upon.
Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a watershed moment for domestic football was quickly watered down by Fufa, which instead preferred to promote The Cranes at the expense of club football that produces players for the national team.
For Dr Lawrence Mulindwa, the then Fufa boss, and Bakkabulindi, they set about to build a solid Cranes brand that served to attract fans from different walks of life, sponsors as well as government funding. In fact, from a marketing point of view, promoting The Cranes was a masterclass and the elevation of The Cranes brand will forever define the legacies of Mulindwa and Bakkabulindi.
On a personal note, my direct connection to the president yielded two buses for SC Villa on top of a Shs 400m rescue package when the club needed to travel to Morocco for a continental encounter in 2017.
However, this came at the expense of Fufa’s goals because promoting The Cranes over the years has only served to weaken the spirit of domestic football to the extent that it has become a casual competition with crumbs at stake. In fact, reviving interest in local football will require a complete overhaul.
It is for this reason that as we edge closer to the promulgation of a new cabinet in a few months’ time, Hamson Obua, the current sports state minister, needs to find his niche. At least something we can credit him for.
Obua is well-known to me it is hard to judge him for any failures in the 15 months he has been in charge. However, the dire state of domestic football is a glaring opportunity that he needs to seize to build a legacy.
Football gets at least Shs 20bn annually and it is within Obua’s mandate to guide the allocation of these resources and how they are used.
The current imbalance in domestic football where clubs endure all operational costs as Fufa milks the little funds available is exploitative. The questionable level of competition, fixture allocation and officiating as well as underhand manoeuvres has created room for fraudsters to manipulate the situation. Moreover, and Fufa’s overbearing influence as regulator, operator and adjudicator has only made matters worse.
Therefore, now is the time for Obua to put the football house to order by creating a system of checks and balances for all football stakeholders. For instance, there is need to rectify the composition of the Uganda Premier League Board to reflect the interests of the clubs; reviewing the sponsorship deals to ensure club interests are protected and also to give clubs the leeway to manage their own affairs.
Domestic football needs more support from government than The Cranes which is guaranteed not less than $500,000 annually from Fifa.
All in all, Obua needs to sort out the inequality in football if he is to build and leave a lasting legacy in his tenure in sports than walking in the convicted and deceptive leadership at FUFA
Just like Bakkabulindi did in 2005, Obua should be the link between football stakeholders and the president, not delegating this power to Fufa that abuses it for its selfish goals.
