Undying passion to watch football

Until you meet Herbert Odankie Muchunguzi, you have not met an extrovert. He radiates good karma, making you feel like you are old friends who last saw each other yesterday. He also talks nonstop. In the backseat of his Toyota Prado TX, we are both sweating profusely as we wonder at the traffic officer who has just taken Shs50,000 off him for talking on the phone while driving. Suddenly, he launches into his passion for football. I’m intrigued at the way his face lights up as he mentions the stars because I have never watched more than 15 minutes of a football match. “I am a fanatic of Arsenal,” he enthuses, continuing, “Not a fan.”

The 42-year-old Zuku Satellite TV marketer has worked in TV for his entire career, except for a short stint at Pioneer Easy Bus Limited. “It has all been about sports, though. I worked with DStv and GTV when the latter gave the biggest sponsorship to Ugandan football. No wonder Uganda Cranes took the CECAFA Cup twice. I was at the helm when WBS pioneered sports coverage. Even at Pioneer Bus, we sponsored my team, Sports Club Villa, by branding them on the buses.”
When he joined NTV Uganda as head of marketing, his first task was to sign a Shs1.8b contract with Uganda Rugby Union in January 2014. “I’m in sports not to make money but to improve the sports.”

Falling more in love
Well, improving sports is one thing, and funding your passion is another thing. “Having tasted the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final at Wembley Stadium in London, I had to go further. I saw the power of branding. London was branded Heineken for a full week with activations and theme parks. That was the time Heineken and I got married.”
He made friends, distributed his business cards, and got useful contacts. He met Rayco Garcia, who owns RG Consultant and Sport Solutions, and through this company, Muchunguzi travelled to Spain.
“Besides Arsenal, I support FC Barcelona. Where Arsenal fails, Barcelona goes and beats Arsenal’s enemies, including Arsenal itself – which is a bit sad. When I visited the Barcelona Arena, my dream was to watch a game at the Camp Nou Stadium.”

Camp Nou has been the home of FC Barcelona since 1957. It has sitting capacity of 99,354, the largest in Europe and has hosted a 1982 FIFA World Cup semi-final match, two UEFA Champions League finals and the football competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

In April 2016, Muchunguzi flew to Spain to watch the El Clasico between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF in Camp Nou. A few months later, in December, he returned for the second El Clasico. He had planned to watch the final training session of his team, but his flight was delayed. “I was amazed at what I saw. Spain’s economy was down but they used football tourism to bring in money because Barcelona and Real Madrid are the biggest clubs in the world.”
When he made it to Camp Nou, one of his idols, Erik van Veen (former MTN Uganda CEO), congratulated him for doing something on his (Veen’s) bucket list. “When I went the second time, he was amazed. I promised to take him with me in April 2017. I also plan to attend the 2017 AFCON in Gabon if I can arrange my leave.”

Using football to promote tourism
It is not all about the pleasure of the game, though; he also sells Uganda. “With Zuku, I have been exposed to Uganda. I have been on every UNRA road. I communicate the statistics and pictures on social media, and I have influenced people to engage in domestic tourism. The pictures help me make presentations about Uganda in Europe.”

Marketing Uganda
A group of friends, including Muchunguzi, started the Ondaba – I’m So UGANDA campaign to promote local tourism, so wherever he travels, he wears his Ondaba T-shirt to provoke curious glances and questions. When people ask what Ondaba and Uganda mean, he pulls out his more than 50,000 pictures.

“Through my associates, I make presentations to groups of Europeans. When I show them pineapples from Nakasero market, you can see them trying to taste the fruits in the picture.

One time I spent three months changing my Facebook cover photo daily, showing the places I have visited. People kept asking about those places. The problem comes when they google Uganda and get distressing images of teargas and (IGP Kale) Kayihura. Once, I was making a presentation in Italy and they decided to google there and then.

They asked me if the country was at war. I defended this country more than Ofwono (Opondo, executive director, Uganda Media Centre) has done. I deserve a medal.”
Early beginnings of his passion
In 1983, as a child growing up in Nairobi, Kenya, Muchunguzi’s mother bought him a secondhand T-shirt with Arsenal written on it, for his birthday. He did not know what the word meant until his uncle from the UK visited. “I was at the age where everything English excited me and I supported Arsenal instantly. I also watched bits of the 1986 FIFA World Cup; however, it was the 1990 FIFA World Cup that I understood.”

While other children slept after lunch, he jumped fences to play football, willing to face his mother’s punishment later. His father, though, encouraged him to play. “I was a goalkeeper because I somersaulted a lot. Even today, when I’m happy I summersault.” When I glance at his girth he says, quickly, “I’m very fit. This (he gestures at his stomach) is just carelessness of being a Ssalongo.”
He also played basketball and was nicknamed Odankie for his dunk. In Kigezi High School, with a friend, Alex Akugizibwe, he would tune in to Fast Track on the BBC World Service. Prominent names mentioned included George Weah and Anthony Yeboah. “I escaped from school to watch football. I would meet my Chemistry teacher, Nathan Bakebwa, in town and he understood that I had to watch football because he was also my sports teacher. We are still friends.”

Today, whenever Muchunguzi is jogging or performing some difficult task, he chants a footballer’s name. “This gives me more energy. I sing Roberto Carlos, Diego Maradona, and Marco van Basten.”
Meeting the stars
His dream to meet the stars materialised in 1999 when Weah appeared at Nakivubo Stadium for an AFCON qualifier. “I was sitting in Kirussia but I ran to see him because I had been singing his name for a long time. In 2007, when Abedi Pele came to Uganda, I hosted him in the WBS studio. And then, in 2008, in Ghana, I drove 85 miles out of Accra to dance in Yeboah’s night club. In the VIP Lounge, I told him I had supported him from the time he was in Eintracht Frankfurt. In fact, that is the only German team I support. He told me he also had Ugandan idols from the 1978 AFCON.”

How Muchunguzi funds his trips
He has been to Europe more than seven times. He is reluctant to reveal the amount he has spent. “I cannot tell you. Maybe about €4,000 (Shs15.2m) a trip. As an agent of RG Consultant and Sport Solutions, I get subsidised VIP tickets of every tournament in Europe.” According to Muchunguzi, his wife does not mind the money he spends because she knows their “bread and butter is connected to football.” In the same breath, he intimates that he does not want her to know the real cost.

Such is the holistic experience of the game that once, in London, an Arab wanted to buy Muchunguzi’s eight UEFA tickets. Originally, the tickets cost £400 (Shs1.7m) but the Arab was offering £4,000 (Shs17.8m).
“I refused. People sell their tickets outside the stadium, although it is illegal. We wanted the experience of watching the players live. When you enter Camp Nou … nostalgia. You imagine Maradona, [Gheorghe] Hagi, (Hristo) Stoichkov, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, (Andrés) Iniesta, and Johan Cruyff. Football is much more than the match. When I see (Lionel) Messi live, I cry. Only a football fanatic can understand it.”

Unbeatable experience
He avidly talks about the Camp Nou experience where one can be part of the game as it happened in 1942. He pulls out an expensive looking watch – Barcelona FC memorabilia. “The only stadium that hit me as much as Camp Nou is Estadio San Siro in Milan, Italy. When I visited for the 2016 UEFA Champions League final in May, it took me 15 minutes to absorb the experience before I pulled out my camera. Later, a cab driver refused to drive me to my hotel because I’m black. But, I did not mind. I had made it to San Siro!”

Estadio San Siro, the home of AC Milan and Inter Milan, with a seating capacity of 80,018, has hosted six 1990 FIFA World Cup games and four UEFA finals.

What he has done for sports

In every company Muchunguzi works, he has a sports budget. “In 2011, I was head of marketing at Next Generation Broadcasting Smart TV, and my marketing director in South Africa challenged me about the budget I had been given. I was to get significant growth in the market, so we partnered with UBC. I wanted the money sank into the deal to bring at least 10,000 new subscribers. I took seven people to watch the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final and managed to bring in 23,000 new subscribers. It was a huge success in a very stressful time and I won an award as the best marketer in Africa.”
Muchunguzi is the face of Platinum Dreams, a company that promotes sports and tourism. Through the International Clinic Camp – a partnership with RG Consultant and Sport Solutions – Platinum Dreams takes teenagers for 10-day tours. “Every summer, we take them to Tenerife, Spain. They are trained by coaches from the best football academies. They also get to meet Barcelona FC players. Last year, we took 15 children and parents from Rwanda and this year we hope to take Kenyans and Ugandans. We also hope to take Ugandans for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.”
He believes Ugandans are now at a level where they appreciate and understand quality and class. “I believe we can attract brands, such as, Adidas (AG) and Nike (Inc.) to Kampala.”
The family man
Besides football, Muchunguzi is enthusiastic about his three children – his daughter is his queen. In 2004, he married his high school sweetheart who he met in 1993. He calls her an introvert, although their children take after him. His daughter was a presenter on WBS until recently. She is also a billboard model for malaria awareness. “It makes me proud to see her on a billboard in Apac District. My twin boys are also billboard models for Jesa Milk. Parents should not limit the scope of their children. Let them be exposed; they are already exposed, anyway. You just have to control the amount of exposure.”