The Fufa Super League Limited, the company that owns Uganda Premier League, held their 3rd annual general meeting on Friday 23rd September at Namboole boardroom. The AGM was characterised by robust debates, change of term limits for board members, audit report and climaxed with reelection of board members.
ChimpSport goes deep to analyze the chronology of events that dominated the floor.
Azam TV Sponsorship
The league sponsors came under fire for paucity in advertising the games to the fans, less content produced and few matches covered.
“What we need is the league coverage to reach more fans out there. Clubs like KCCA FC have been forced to do publicity on their own which initially is the responsibility of Azam,” KCCA FC’s Kabugo said.
Kabugo’s voice was echoed by Fufa 1st Vice President Mr. Dennis Mbidde who proposed “Azam to partner with local Free to Air stations to increase the league viewer ship.”
Mbidde also wondered why Azam hasn’t increased the number of live matches aired. “We started with 52 live games and two years on the number is not going up, that needs to be addressed.”
The broadcaster had scheduled to air only 15 matches in the first round translating to about 11 percent.
The chairmen proposed to deduct some money from their portion to fund a drive to promote the teams though that position was left pending further discussions.
Mbidde survives again
Clubs efforts to throw out FUFA Vice President, Denis Mbidde as their representative on the federation executive failed yet again on the second try. Mbidde renounced his post at SC Villa Ex-co.
The third Fufa VP’s position is reserved for the premier league clubs who appoint their own choice. A four-man committee led by Bul FC’s Silver Alias was constituted during the 2nd AGM to assess the performance of Mbidde but could not present any report by Friday to the surprise of the members.
The committee also had Mohammed Nsereko (relegated SCVU), Asan Kasingye (Police) and Lweza’s Ahmed Ddamulira. The matter was also pushed forward.
Initially Mbidde was supposed to occupy the post in a four year time ending next season.
“The 3rd VP comes from this constituency but most times his voice defends the FA and therefore clubs lose out,” Mr. Mujib Kasule noted
Fufa pinned on league breaks.
Fufa also had a share of their own blames where the clubs raised one voice to condemn a lot of unnecessary league breaks.
The FA drafts an annual activity calendar which aligns with the CAF and Fifa ones. The UPL also has to draw their calendar in line with the former.
To be precise, Fufa competitions department sets the UPL match days and the secretariat just fixes matches in the reserved dates.
Recently, the league had a ten day break to ‘give time for fans to grace the CECAFA women championship in Njeru.’
“I was surprised to learn that the league was going into a recess because of the women’s tournament. So how are the two connected?” Faisal rhetorically queried.
There was also a general sense of feeling that the FA was prioritising national team promotions at the expense of the league especially with the Cranes Namutiima campaigns.
“The problem is that Fufa isn’t prioritizing the league. They have no problem postponing the league for Namutiima,” Proline’s Kasule noted.
He stressed that fixture management is paramount because it affects the teams technically and financially. The members, under the guidance of FSLL chairman Rugyendo resolved that secretariat should review the fixture before the second round starts.
KCCA FC’s Julius Kabugo also proposed the league to adopt a ‘one match a week’ format to reduce fatigue.
ChimpSport will continue to analyze the financial statements and Rugyendo’s reelection in our next part.