The venue for Eastern region grand finale between Jinja North United and Mbale Heroes remains undecided thus far.
For starters, Jinja North United and Mbale Heroes are battling for the only available slot for Eastern region in the second division, StarTimes FUFA Big League.
At first, the Kyabazinga stadium in Bugembe, Jinja city had been picked.
After a while, a second option; the FUFA Technical Centre, Njeru came up.
The latest development is a rejection of the Njeru venue by the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) through the competitions director, Aisha Nalule.
A memo from Nalule challenges Njeru on grounds of neutrality.
“The venue you selected as your second option (FUFA Technical centre, Njeru) does not meet the neutrality for both teams in the playoff final. Therefore, the use of this venue has been ruled out” Nalule wrote to the General Secretary of the FUFA Eastern region football association.
The same letter advised the Eastern region FA not to select the venue from Mbale DFA, Jinja DFA or the other 7 regional FA’s.
That said, the new venue should come from the other Eastern region districts as Iganga, Kamuli, Tororo, Bugiri, Busia and Busitema.
Officials from Jinja North Football Club have already started to cry foul, citing irregularities and influence from “above”.
“We keep wondering why the venue of the final has not been decided. It keeps changing time to time. Could there be foul play? We have invested a lot in preparation for this final” pondered the chairperson of Jinja North United, Ronald Isiko.
Now, for the third time, the officials of Eastern Region Football Association will convene to decide on the venue of the final following the rejection of Kyabazinga stadium, Bugembe and the FUFA Technical Centre, Njeru.
The date too, for this final will be confirmed as the two clubs remain in preparation for the D-Day and moment.
Both clubs have tried and tested players, the mere fact that this game will be too close to call.
Former Vipers and BUL winger Azizi Kemba leads the cast at Jinja North United whilst goalkeeper Muhammed Didi and Harunah Lukwago are at Mbale Heroes.
