Three Ugandans who won a draw to watch this year’s UEFA Champions League Final game in Milan, Italy have been denied visas.
The unlucky winners are William Musinguzi from Kitooro, Entebbe, Elly Muhwezi from Kansanga, Kampala and Abel Kafanka from Bukoto.
These were selected in the Crown Beverages promotion dubbed “Drink and Peel” to catch one of the world’s biggest sporting event live.
According to Jeff Ssekandi, Crown Beverages Head of Marketing, the trio was set to depart from Entebbe Airport for Italy yesterday.
He said the Beverages Company was deeply troubled by the decision of the Italian Embassy in Uganda to deny the winners visas.
The company had already cleared or the travel and accommodation expenses for the winners.
“It has come to our attention that the winners, who were preparing for the trip, were denied visas by the Italian Embassy in Uganda despite Pepsi having footed all the expenses for accommodation and air fare,” said Ssekandi in a statement.
The Embassy reportedly raised concerns about the documents the winners submitted as part of the visa application process.
“Crown Beverages Limited respects the decision of the embassy as the power to issue or deny visas is under its discretion,” he added.
The winners will now have to forget about the trip as such eventualities were already spelt out in the draw’s terms and conditions.
Clause 9 of the Terms and Condition of the promotion, stipulated that an entrant (winner) whose entry has been drawn and/or the entrants partner, at any time be refused a Schengen visa to travel to Europe and/or the European country of the Promoters discretion for any reason whatsoever, such an entrant will be deemed not to have qualified for the prize and/or have forfeited the grand prize (trip to Milan).
“We regret any inconvenience this situation may have caused to the affected customers. We thank all our customers who participated in the “Drink and Peel” promotion,” said Mrs Ssekandi.