One of the best treasures we have as a country is our inbuilt passion for different sports activities. From our local board games to all other international sports, Ugandan’s involvement makes these games more fun because of our un weaving support.
In 1968 when the Uganda First Division League was established, the involvement of our local citizens was at the highest pick despite the little popularity of the game then. The few teams that were involved in the league had their fans who could do anything for their teams including raising funds to facilitate their teams whenever they lacked resources.
Clubs like Express, Prisons, Jinja and Mbarara Fc rose into fame because of their solid fan base in areas where they came from. All the initial assets that these clubs owned; the highest contributions came from the supporters themselves.
A good example in this will be Masaka FC. This club was an initiative of community members from that area (Masaka), who did their best to see that their area is well represented at the national level in terms of sports. It wasn’t politicians or any other self-seekers, but the local people themselves.
What Changed.
When Balamaze Lwanga and Rev. Kibuuka Kakooza initiated this idea on our local scene, their intentions weren’t about money or any other personal gains, it was their love for the sport and the need to utilise our local talents that had been ignored for quite some time. That’s why it was very easy for them to sell the idea to the federation then, and the local people, because their words always matched their actions.
Even when it came to payment of players, they were paid very well despite the scarcity of resources then.
But today, where our football has been officially commercialised, with different sponsors on board, our players are still taking peanuts as payments for their efforts in this game.
When the league was renamed to the National Football League in 1974, the work done at district and community level had attracted different stakeholders into this sport. This was because the real lovers of the sport were still involved.
The fact is, sports is an international business, but it takes effort to reap from it. What we have here is that our well-resourced citizens want to get money out of the sport the moment they start putting money in these clubs, which is very wrong.
The richest clubs like Real Madrid and Manchester City, their first and current owners understood one thing, to do the investment in their clubs and patiently wait for returns in the near future.
The moment you start getting money out of a struggling business, that will be the end of it.
The 16 teams in our current StarTimes Uganda Premier still need real financial inputs in terms of facilities, welfare and payments of their entire club staff, players inclusive.
But the reality is, the administrators are focusing more on how to get money out of these clubs, yet their main role should be on how to bring in more money into these clubs. When your input is very low, be sure that your returns will also be minimal.
Going Forward.
We are very lucky as a country because our population is majorly young people. This is an advantage because these are the real lovers of football. But their major focus today is on international clubs, and this is because we have failed to invest in our local talents. Whoever comes forward as an investor in these local clubs, their interest is on how they get more money out these clubs, with their little inputs.
Let us take beck the ownership of these clubs into our local people. The administration of these clubs should be headed by educated football lovers who are very passionate about this game.
Let the so-called rich people seat on committees that solicit funds for these clubs, but not on the top administration. These (Rich People) are honestly money makers who have no idea on how to run and build a self-sustaining football club.
We are not yet at a level of getting money out of our football clubs. There is more investment needed at the moment, if we are to reap hugely out of this sport.
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