Following the recent rising tension among Azam Uganda Premier League (AUPL) clubs, the Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA) has finally come out to take a stand in a bid to end the ongoing football wrangles in its own back yard.
This comes after rumors broke out that about 10 clubs in the top flight are plotting to boycott the kickoff of the AUPL that is due 21st August, 2015, a week after the Super Cup fixture between SC Villa and Vipers SC.
In a document named ‘STATEMENT OF FACTS’, FUFA highlighted the following issues:
• FUFA is a special shareholder with veto powers in the FUFA Super League (FSL) Limited where the rest of the members (clubs) are ordinary shareholders with voting rights.
• FUFA has learnt of malicious steps being taken by a group of selfish and individual beneficiaries of the Azam Uganda Premier League broadcast revenue targeting FUFA and its officials. This includes false allegations being presented to the Uganda Police, Ordinary Courts of law, Clubs and unsuspecting general public. In order to protect the reputation and integrity of the game, FUFA will not hesitate to evoke association football rules and laws of the Republic of Uganda where applicable.
• The term of office for the FSL Board expired and therefore acting without the mandate of the members
• FUFA Executive Committee withdrew the roles as assigned to FSL in accordance with the FUFA Statues after FSL deviated from the football rules and regulations and also failing to pay for budgeted expenses
• FUFA and FSL Ltd signed a contract with Azam Pay TV. FUFA is entitled to 10% and $60,000 for referees. Budgets for the breakdown of the expenditures were presented and approved by the clubs
• The bank account on which the broadcast revenue from Azam pay TV is sent has only two signatories FSL Chairman Hajji Abaas Kawaase Mukasa and FSL Secretary Richard Omongole
• Out of the budget $60,000 for Referees, only $30,000 was paid. Therefore the bona fide beneficiaries of the broadcast revenue such as Referees, UPL Secretariat and some clubs were not paid their entitlements yet this had been budgeted for.
• It is on this note that FUFA wrote to Azam asking them to deposit all broadcast revenue to the new bank account under the names of Uganda Premier League (UPL). This was meant to ensure that bona fide beneficiaries receive their monies duly. The UPL and FUFA CEOs Bernard Bainamani and Edgar Watson respectively are the only signatories to this bank account.
• FUFA has asked FSL to present their audited books of accounts
• The FUFA and FSL Statutes stipulate that the membership of FSL is composed of only clubs that have been duly licensed by FUFA. Therefore, it is improper for FSL board to organise club meetings involving unlicensed and already relegated clubs such as Rwenshama and Entebbe FC yet purportedly taking footballing decisions.
• The FUFA Executive Committee has included on the agenda for the General Assembly a proposal from one of the clubs (URA FC) eligible for club licensing regarding the status of the Azam Uganda Premier League. FUFA will support and implement whatever the General Assembly decides on 26th September, 2015 in Soroti.
• Finally FUFA will not allow a situation where Referees, Clubs and UPL secretariat are not paid their due entitlements at the expense of paying some individual club chairmen in form of disguised commissions FUFA would therefore want to assure the public and football fraternity that the matters raised will be solved in the best way possible for the betterment of the game.
Source: Fufa.co.ug