By Kyeyune Ali._
In the course of the last five years, the President of the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA), Eng Moses Magogo, particularly in 2017, has come out with three main pillars to develop Ugandan football.
Among those pillars is stopping hooliganism especially in the [StarTimes] Uganda Premier League (UPL), and they (FUFA) worked hand in hand with clubs to stop it aiming to attract more sponsors since football has turned into a business.
As a result, in the last five years, the UPL has brought in several sponsors at different clubs, and fans that watch games at stadia have also increased.
The new promoter for Express FC, Mr Edgar Musayimuto, says that hooliganism is not necessary for supporters of football, and it will be very difficult to build a new generation who can support football because time will come when this generation has perished, and has thus beseeched all of us, players and fans, to love the game of football.
He also added that all ladies have an offer to watch all Express FC games free of charge throughout the season.
Local football governing body, FUFA, has promised to deal with the new wave of hooliganism amongst football fans exhibited during some UPL games.
The latest incident happened on Wednesday 16th, November 2022 at Kakindu Stadium in Jinja, where a section of Busoga United FC fans pelted stones onto the pitch as their side was playing Express FC in a league encounter.
As players, officials and journalists took cover on the pitch, police fired teargas to disperse the rowdy and violent fans who had become a security threat.
Trouble ensued moments after Allan Kayiwa had scored a free kick in the 87th minute to give Express the lead against the hosts (Busoga United). Fans accused the referee of biased officiation, and thus got rowdy, forcing security officials to take action.
Commenting on the issue, FUFA has condemned the act of hooliganism and has vowed to crack a whip on the culprits after bringing them to book.
FUFA Spokesperson, Mr Ahmed Marsha, said that they shall not accept hooliganism in football. He revealed that FUFA’s judicial bodies will continue to handle cases that are in breach of the set football regulations.
“Investigations will be conducted and adjudication made on all perpetrators involved in acts of hooliganism,” another part of the statement from the spokesperson read.
The incident at Kakindu Stadium comes just days after a section of SC Villa fans pelted stones onto the stadium during their side’s 2-1 loss to Wakiso Giants last week at Mutesa II Stadium, Wankulukuku. A Wakiso Giants’ medical doctor was injured by a suspected stone on the forehead.
The incident raised a lot of outcry in the football fraternity, drawing the attention of league authorities.
Overwhelming verdicts, including that of this media house, seem to suggest that these acts of fighting after an opposing team scoring a goal should come to an end because damages come up, both physically and financially, that are usually very difficult to compensate, including chances of people losing their lives.