Congratulations Vipers but there is a lot more to do

It’s a little over one year since Uganda returned to the Africa Cup of Nations after a near four-decade hiatus. The qualification for the next edition (2019) in Cameroon started well.

Geoffrey Sserunkuma scored a priceless goal as Uganda Cranes won 1-0 away in Cape Verde. The national team will be very confident of beating Tanzania at home in September.
To prepare for that, the team left for Niger over the weekend for weeklong training camp in West Africa where they will play two friendlies, the first of which is today.

Over the past decade, the national team has been a big crowd puller and its brand has grown vastly with the federation boasting at least seven corporate sponsors.
In addition, Fufa has built a commendable relationship with government that has seen the powers-that-be open the money taps often.

All this has been happening on the backdrop of the foundation, the local league, being eroded. You can equate the national team to a miracle as the league hasn’t been the most appealing during this period.
However, there seems to be hope on the horizon. The Azam Uganda Premier League that climaxed on Friday is the best in years.

Everything went down to final day. Eventually, Vipers held off KCCA to clinch their third title while Uganda’s oldest football club, Express, survived relegation by a whisker.
There is so much to be proud of for everyone involved. During the celebrations, let no one turn a blind eye to the areas that need improvement.

Critical among those is the refereeing standards. Everyone has had a complaint about the quality of refereeing way before the head of referees confirmed match-fixing.
The reason why Ugandan football sunk in 2003/04 is entirely because referees became employees of SC Villa and Express.

To Fufa and UPL, everything you purport to have built will be eroded in no time if your ‘judges’ continue to fall below standards.
Also, violence that has been extremely minimal last season should be completely wiped out. The onus then goes to clubs to organize themselves better.
The reason why Vipers and KCCA have dominated the league over the past six seasons is down to the fact that they are the most organised teams off the pitch.

Only Onduparaka come close to that. Villa and Express need to borrow a leaf from those that are doing something right.
There will not be any sustained success unless the clubs build their own structures to support the small gains Fufa and UPL are making.