Andrew Mwanguhya
25 June 2011
The cancer that has always eaten up Ugandan football every time it has tried to rise up again is not showing signs of relenting. Uganda Super League (USL) have now decided to take matters regarding promotion of clubs from the Big League to the world soccer governors Fifa after local body Fufa suspended all their activities.
USL are mandated by the Fifa-blessed Jinja Declaration, backed by all stakeholders, to run the affairs of the competition, a task they started with the just-concluded season. But Fufa maintain authority over the overall supervision of the game. The soccer body accuse league managers of announcing next season’s fixtures before receiving names of clubs that have been promoted as required.
Fufa suspension
“This, therefore, serves to inform you that the delegated authority by Fufa to the Uganda Super League Limited to run the league is suspended until another communication by Fufa on July 1,” read a letter from Fufa CEO Edgar Watson yesterday. The said communication will be after a meeting with Fufa, club representatives and Jinja Declaration Committee on June 30.
But USL have strongly dismissed the suspension, instead calling a special meeting of their own with all league clubs on June 27 to get a common position. “Powers that run the Uganda Super League are not delegated by Fufa but are created by Memorandum and Articles of Association of the USL in which Fifa is a special shareholder,” read USL board head Kavuma Kabenge’s response to the Fufa CEO. “So there is nothing for you to suspend. The USL will continue its activities inclusive of a meeting with Fufa as requested. “We are referring this matter to Fifa to help explain the obligations of Fufa and USL.”
Fufa and USL have had weeks of running battles with the former insisting on promoting three clubs while the latter are hell bent on two. If two clubs are promoted for the 2011/12 season, the league will have 14 teams contrary to the odd 15 with three coming up. USL argue that 15 teams will interfere with the 14 clubs’ revenue from broadcast sponsors SuperSport, who signed a Shs12b deal to televise the competition starting with the new season on September 9.
Hoima and Water qualified automatically from the lower division, the Big League, and are included in USL’s new fixtures. But there is no place for winners from the Big League play-off between Bidco and Iganga, which Fufa competitions committee chairperson Moses Magogo insists will take place at Nakivubo tomorrow.
Iganga made the play-off after the Fufa disciplinary committee controversially disqualified Boroboro for fielding Dan Obote.
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Continued here:
Uganda: USL Turn to Fifa as Row Deepens