By Bwambale Ausi Taka
They came, they talked and agreed to call off the fight, FUFA and the Uganda Premier League (UPL) clubs are once again reading from the same script even though the clubs have an immediate request that may come to test the strength of this truce.
“Let’s stay the reforms to the league,” said Onduparaka FC chairman Bernard Atiku following yesterday’s meeting between the two parties who had fallen out over the last two months.
Atiku explained that the reason for this request was “because they are some strategic challenges that we need to address as a league”.
UPL clubs sent a heartfelt appeal to the Minister of Education and Sports and First Lady Hon. Janet Kataha Museveni to spearhead a change in the governance of Ugandan football and specifically the management of the UPL two weeks ago.
The clubs asked for, among others, a share of the government’s annual football budget, more power in the management of the affairs of the league and to delay the reforms until agreement with all concerned parties.
Atiku believes the renewed commitment to work together between the UPL and FUFA will see the reforms process revised.
“I am very hopeful that our submission with regard to the reforms of the league that FUFA is proposing will give them an insight and guide them in the decision-making process,” Atiku explained.
“So as we said, it’s not the final position. They made a proposal, and which proposal was finally submitted to us, which we digested and analyzed and have come up with our position as clubs, saying let’s stay the reforms and once those challenges are addressed, the league will bounce back lucrative, attracting to sponsors and become professional.”
Ultimately, Atiku summed up yesterday’s meeting at the FUFA secretariat as overwhelming positive.
“Today’s meeting has been a groundbreaking meeting, explained the honorable member of parliament.
“I should say it is a success for almost all of us who are here and that is a turnaround from the last meeting, which did take place but without some of the clubs.
“Why we decided to petition the first lady was because we wanted to be heard and that the platform was not there. Now that the FUFA president has admitted that those communication challenges were there, It is within his powers to fix those challenges. So that in future these kind of uncoordinated movements are minimized.”
