Concerns of safety and security before, during and after football matches remain pertinent in as far as promoting and protecting the brand of the beautiful game is concerned.
Continuous acts of violence and hooliganism have far reaching negative impacts to the game development as scaring away old and prospective new fans alike, sponsors and other partners.
Therefore, Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) has put in place stringent control measures to punish hooligans and remain strict with clubs to tame their respective wild fans.
On top of that, FUFA recently organized a largely successful safety and security workshop at the Mandela National Stadium, Namboole where over 30 stewards were passed out.
Now, it is a regulation that each of the 16 Uganda Premier League must employ a security officer and deploy at least 10 stadium stewards for a given match.
This was one of the key decisions from the 22nd FUFA Executive meeting at convened at FUFA House, Mengo in Kampala on Friday, 13th March 2020 at the FUFA Complex boardroom of the new Executive House.
The FUFA Executive Committee thus has directed that each of the 16 clubs in the StarTimes Uganda Premier League must have a minimum of ten stewards working closely with the Uganda Police Force during matches. Additionally, every club in the StarTimes Uganda Premier League must have a security officer that will coordinate security arrangements during games.
FUFA Website
The element of stewards in Uganda had not been fully embraced but a couple of clubs as Onduparaka, KCCA, SC Villa managed to employ some stewards for their home matches.
The security officer will be expected to win hand in hand alongside the stadium stewards as well as the police force deployed for a particular match.
A clean league free of riots, violent acts, hooliganism will lure more sponsors and partners on board with a vibrant brand visibility.
