Union rescinds decision by awarding Mongers walkover

KAMPALA. Uganda Rugby Union (URU) has overturned its decision to award Buzz Pirates a walkover against Plascon Mongers in the Nile Special Premiership after the game failed to go on due to failure on an ambulance to show up on time on Saturday.

For a game that was supposed to kick off at 2:30pm in Makerere, the ambulance arrived 36 minutes later which is more than the 25 minutes officials are supposed to wait for before declaring a walkover according to the league manual.

To the surprise of the Mongers, center referee Dennis Anguyo requested they wait an extra 15 minutes to make it 40 as he had been instructed by a URU official on phone, a move the visitors did not bow too, forcing Anguyo to award Pirates the win on grounds that Mongers had refused to play.

“We were just following the law. We waited for over 25 minutes and the ambulance had not arrived which makes it our walkover,” Mongers coach Kigongo Ssebalamu told Daily Monitor.

Pirates were to host the game at their home, Legends Rugby Club, but the facility was not available thus shifting the tie to Makerere, home of Impis and Rams. According to Pirates operations manager Solomon Sendigya, Impis as the new hosts had an arrangement with Pirates to avail an ambulance but the agreement did not materialize, forcing them into last minute search for an ambulance.

“We agreed with the home ground team (Impis) on the ambulance but it was never there. We had to start organizing for one which could not arrive in time because of the Saturday`s heavy traffic,’’ he said.

Pirates to appeal

Pirates are preparing to appeal the decision that saw their flawless start of the season ended. “We are going to appeal,” Sendigya confirmed to this paper. Pirates were enjoying a good start to the campaign with three wins against Impis, Heathens and Rams but their latest upset has given rivals an early edge in the title race.

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