On December 13, the Uganda Premier League (UPL) secretariat docked JMC Hippos 3 points for allegedly fielding ineligible players against Express.
The Jinja based side had won 1-0 against the Red Eagles at Kakindu on December 9 but the Wankulukuku based side filed a petition a day later alleging JMC Hippos of fielding ineligible players.
However, Proline director cum coach Mujib Kasule was left shocked by the decision made by the league CEO Bernard Bainamani on the matter in which the Jinja side forfeited the points.
“The UPL secretariat has no powers to hear petitions or punish clubs,” he told Kawowo Sports. “Even the board does not have these powers,” he added before revealing how the ideal and right thing should be.
The board is supposed to appoint a disciplinary committee which hears and decides cases as the first instance body then the appeal is done at the FUFA level. The secretariat only receives and forwards to the disciplinary committee. Imagine Edgar (FUFA CEO) receiving a petition and then calls Sharon and Jimmy (FUFA Secretariat employees) to decide it. Can you tell us which body decided this case?
According to the secretariat, JMC Hippos were punished for fielding players that had provisional licenses although a FUFA letter dated September 23, 2016 warned that for a player to play in the national first division by October 22, they must own a Passport as per circular 1046 on September 21.
Kasule however says this rule was never passed by the UPL Annual General Meeting insisting by the time the clubs held their AGM, the rules were on the FUFA president’s table.
All league rules must be approved by the UPL AGM and i know that by the time we had the AGM, the rules were at the president’s table as reported by the CEO and as chairmen, and we have not seen them leave alone approving them.
The former FUFA Vice President in charge of the league advised that it’s wrong to punish any club using such rules.
Outside that procedure you cannot use those rules to punish clubs. Circulars can be issued but in most cases they are not in good faith and JMC feels that way. In our AGM and in the subsequent meeting with the president, we referred the passport issue to further discussions for a more balanced solution. Did we just waste time in these meetings?
When the FUFA President had a meeting with the UPL Chairmen on Thursday at Namboole, Kasule reasoned why the passport issue needs a delay.
First of all, it’s expensive and clubs have much more to spend on and thus an expensive thing like a passport shouldn’t be enforced at the moment. I advise we consider the National ID for starters since it’s cheaper.
JMC Hippos’ chairman Faisal Muhammad was so infuriated by UPL decision and was planning to withdraw his side from the league.
