The Ugandan football fraternity last week woke up to a circular revealing a new topflight format that will replace the current one ahead of the 2025/26.
The circular signed by Fufa Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Edgar Watson showed massive changes with the league now to be played in three rounds and a promotional/demotion play off as well.
In their argument, the authors of the new format say the aim is to increase competitiveness in the league, curb issues of match fixing as each game will be of importance in regards to prize money for each position in each round.
“Each match will be a final and, in the end, it will increase competition, curb match fixing as there will be a lot to fight for,” says one of the people pros to the new format.
However, the people against it differ in opinion stating that this new format will instead water down the competitiveness of the league, encourage match fixing and also send away fans from the stands for many matches.
No consultation from stakeholders
For starters, a lot of football stakeholders were not involved in formulating this new format.
“We were only invited to the meeting and told us about this,” one club President who prefers anonymity told Kawowo Sports. “But then, we weren’t given the opportunity to have a debate and air out our opinions on this and boom, we later see it as passed,” the chairperson adds.
For others, there proposals on how the new format should still be improved where thrown into the basket.
“When we were invited,” a club CEO narrated, “we were asked for our views and we wrote to the Fufa CEO but dismayed that none of our views were considered when the circular came out.”
Does the new league format increase competition and also curb match fixing?
The first round will be the most competitive as all teams will be fighting to finish in the top eight but after that, competition will literally drop.
Why? The top eight teams will have already survived relegation and in case some of them are not targeting the league trophy, their ambitions may go down.
“If I do well and finish in the top 8, my target of surviving relegation would have been achieved,” said one club CEO.
In case 1-2 teams have same ambition, they can easily be manipulated by match fixers and in the end, cause more trouble to the league than the intended solution.
And for teams in the lower tier (9-16) after the first round, competition may go down as fighting relegation may not necessarily be the end point for them when the season starts.
None-equitable rationale of home and away – bias in the final round
In the new model, clubs will have none equitable number of matches at home or away and that could have a biased effect in the third round when teams are fighting to stay up or go down.
“Where in the world have seen a league played with some teams playing more matches home/away than others,” one wondered.
Just imagine KCCA or Vipers plays away in the first round against teams who they meet in the final/third round and now, they host all them in the final round, this will raise bias. This is different in the 16-team table where each team plays the other home or away regardless of which position and timing of the fixture.
And again, all the 16-teams wont play same number of games with those moving to the third round playing more than the rest making the league appear like a cup competition instead.
Fans will have no reason to watch all those rounds
The initiators of the proposal believe that with top teams likely to face each at least three times a season, it will bring excitement to the fans. “Now imagine, KCCA vs Vipers vs SC Villa could be played three times and to fans, those will be many block buster matches to watch,” one argues.
However, this could necessarily not be true according to some fans. “If I have to watch the same game three times and yet the final round decides the championship, why would I waste my time going to the watch the ones in earlier rounds,” a fan against the new format laments.
“Besides, if a group of mediocre sides in the second group (9-16) are playing just against themselves, who will watch them,” one wondered.
And again, they will have been denied an opportunity to play against the big boys for the second time in a season and we shall miss the tension of a title chasing side against a team fighting relegation like it has been in the old format.
For Fufa President Moses Magogo, it will be good teams playing each other in their levels (relegation battlers) and (title contenders) alone.
“If am fighting against relegation, why should I play against a team fighting for the league, we are looking at teams playing each at same wave length,” he argues.
Revenue sharing from gate collections
The system of sharing gate collections amongst the clubs on match day with Fufa and UPL has also caused issues with many against it.
Some argue that Fufa and UPL are already in better financial position than all clubs and thus no need to take any share from the gate collections, which is the major source of football income for the clubs.
“You can’t share portion of gate collections from already starving clubs if you are Fufa and UPL. For us, that is a no,” a couple of club CEOs argued.
Others also have an opinion that says 100% of the clubs are running on debts/losses and with funding from individual owners/institutions funds to run on a daily so sharing portion of their match day collection is stifling club income.
For others, this is unfair to clubs with strong and sound fan bases that consistently watch their home matches against those that have no fans. “I invest in ensuring fans come to watch my home games and then we share with the opponent who makes no effort to have them in their home matches, it is unfair,” one lamented.
Is the format a solution to Uganda’s league football problems?
I don’t think it is. The biggest problem that Ugandan football faces at the moment is investment in the clubs.
There has been signs of improvement in this aspect from clubs like, Vipers, SC Villa, KCCA, NEC and BUL but they are also operating in deficits and relying on either personal money or institution funding.
There must be a deliberate effort by Fufa to convince government on the matter by apportioning part of the 17 billion from the national budget to football into clubs.
For now, do that under the old league format, the one embraced world wide and the issue of competitiveness will have been solved.
Share a sum equally amongst all the 16-teams in the UPL and also increase prize monies position by position and competition will naturally come.
In the last 2-4 seasons, the league is decided in the final 1-3 rounds, and so is the relegation battle.