Uganda: Friday Football Just Got Better

Andrew Mwanguhya

20 July 2011

Kampala — Ask a local basketball fan which day they look forward to and Friday will roll off their lips effortlessly. Put it to an average local football fan which day they anticipate most in a year and chances are it will be the day Uganda Cranes are in action.

Friday night basketball has somewhat proved a hit with numbers as most followers find it convenient to relax on slum dunks rather than an insane traffic jam to Nakivubo after a hard day’s job. The Uganda Super League (USL), to their credit, tried out two-day games weekly with Tuesdays and Fridays the catch last season although it didn’t come off quite as they would have loved numbers-wise.

The missing ingredient – television – was provided by GTV before its collapse in 2009. But just like GTV, USL and SuperSport have reserved Fridays for two live league games weekly, and football could reap the same benefits as basketball, as fans could now choose to cool out their evenings at Namboole.

Scouting benefit

Ugandan coaches and players will also be able to sell their credentials to the scouting world, culminating in possible career advancement moves. “We shall have a double header (two games) every Friday, with the rest of the games throughout the week (Tuesdays) recorded for the weekly league magazine on SuperSport,” said USL spokesperson James Ssekandi.

Ssekandi also revealed Friday schedules will experience several changes as all live games will only be at Namboole, regardless of the venues showed in the fixtures released on Monday. “We agreed with SuperSport that everyone of the 16 clubsin the league will get a chance to be shown live.”

The first double header on the opening day, according to Ssekandi, will feature Express v URA-earlier scheduled for Wankulukuku – and Maroons v Proline at Namboole.

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