In December 1982, top-flight clubs in Ugandan football formed the Super Division Clubs Association to protect their interests in the wake of Fufa’s overbearing influence in club matters.
Powerful names at the time such as Jimmy Mugambe Kiwanuka, Jack Ibaale and Jimmy Bakyayita Semugabi took the top positions of chairman, vice chairman and secretary in that order.
This was in response to Fufa’s decision to break up the top-flight into two divisions plus imposition of new transfer rules that gave the federation an upper hand in determining its share of any transfer fee.
The Fufa leadership at the time couldn’t envisage a challenge to its powers but within months, Mugambe’s had mobilized enough support amongst the clubs to bring Fufa to its knees.
They refused to kick off the 1983 league until Fufa reversed its decision and the ensuing standoff dragged in government, which sided with the clubs. It was a rare show of unity as leading sides such as KCC, Express and SC Villa put aside their differences.
Since then, Fufa has always been in check each time the clubs got together. In fact, the power struggle between the two parties reached a head in 1998 when clubs instigated the demise of Twaha Kakaire’s Fufa to usher in Dennis Obua.
Fast forward to today, clubs have basically become Fufa’s servants and have little say on some pertinent matters such as their leadership and sponsorship.
The current situation was engineered in 2015 when clubs gave away their right to organize the top-flight league, citing divisions and intrigue amongst themselves to hand over power back to Fufa.
Since then, they say, football matters have been reduced to selected individuals, some of whom don’t even represent club views. We saw how Dennis Mbidde spent four years as Fufa vice president representing the top-flight clubs yet he had ceased to represent any club.
Incidentally, the clubs face a similar scenario where Mbidde’s successor, Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi, no longer holds any position at Express FC.
So, a recent meeting between Fufa and the Uganda Premier League (UPL) clubs revealed a lot that is wrong with Ugandan football as far as leadership and sponsorship are concerned. The clubs wanted to be furnished with details of the recently-signed deal between Fufa and StarTimes as well as seemingly crowded fixture of the upcoming season.
I am reliably informed that Arinaitwe Rugyendo, the UPL board chairman, who signed on behalf of all the clubs, apologized for not informing other clubs. Now, both sides have constituted a committee to study the terms and conditions of the deal, something I find quite futile given that the deal has already been signed and sealed.
The most prevalent thing in all this is that clubs today are not united to champion one cause. It has become commonplace for each club to fight its own battle as others look away disinterested.
When KCCA shameless grabbed Muhamad Shaban and Ibrahim Saddam Juma from Onduparaka and Express respectively, the rest of the UPL paid a blind eye.
So, perhaps Fufa knows there is an organisational gap and seizes every moment to make the clubs toothless. How else can you sign a deal that bars other broadcasters from sponsoring clubs? Or signing a ten-year deal on behalf of the clubs without involving a single club chairman?
So, clubs will grumble about the poor TV deal but they really have little say on it. Until they wake up and fight as a unit, they will continue to give Fufa the leeway to control them as it wishes.
bzziwa@observer.ug