For any football competition to get to top levels all the various stakeholders should play their roles to promote the success of the competition.
Over the years the Uganda Premier League (UPL) has come under some criticisms for losing its shine.
However, in our own ways there are measures we can put in place to generate much interest in the league. There have been instances some local games, have caught the attention of football loving fans and we can exploit that.
Good refereeing:
Referees are one of the main characters that decide the outcome of games. Most soccer fans have a negative mentality about referees in the Uganda,because of certain poor decisions they have made in the past. Although refereeing is a human institution and is subject to human errors, when their mistakes become plenty, people tend to accuse referees of being influenced.
Responsible club administrators:
The management committees of clubs should position their clubs well to attract the necessary sponsorship to cushion them during this trying moment that the league is commencing without a headline sponsor. Clubs should get marketers to market their brands to corporate bodies to attract the needed sponsorship. The clubs are sometimes their own enemies, as some administrators in their quest to win certain matches by fair or foul means try to influence match officials.
Playing competitively:
It is an open secret that certain matches are predetermined especially getting to the tail end of the league. This takes a lot of shine from the league. It serves as a deterrent to investment and club administrators are the ones who are mostly involved and players have no other option than to comply in order to ensure their continued stay in the team.
Fans should refrain from hooliganism:
Some of the league venues are very intimidating for away clubs. Supporters molest referees, away team players and their fans. As a result of this most of the clubs don’t take supporters to away games to avoid retaliation.
Good reportage from journalists:
Sports journalists and writers should be actively involved in promoting the league.
Journalist should be constructive in their criticisms, but not destructive because they all have a role to play in helping the development of the Ugandan football.
Some journalists just look for negative things to happen, at league matches, so that they can dwell on them. Meanwhile they overlook the positives, such as excellent display from a player.
FUFA should empower its sub committees together with UPL, which is the organiser of the league. Fufa,needs to ensure the various sub committees that have a role to play in the organisation of the league play their roles effectively.
Committee members that can’t deliver, should be fired.
[The Writer is a trainer events security personnel]