SuperSport, UBL lay conditions

Supersport are running a five-year Shs13b broadcast deal with the USL while UBL a Shs2.2b three-year title sponsorship pact. Both were signed early last year.

Kampala

Two heavyweight investors in Ugandan football, Uganda Breweries Limited (UBL) and SuperSport International, have pledged to continue the partnership with the game but only if the prevailing wrangles come into a halt.

The two corporate bodies met with the State Minister for Sports, Charles Bakkabulindi, on his invitation at his office last Friday and emphasized for a synchronized system if they are to remain associated with Ugandan football.

Both UBL and SuperSport expressed their concerns over the current position of two national leagues - Fufa Super League and Uganda Super League - running concurrently, which undermines the progress of football in Uganda and their interests in the sport.

Harmony
The two parties urged the factions within Ugandan football to resolve their disputes and harmonize into a “single professional league as the current state of affairs is not tenable for sponsors, broadcasters, clubs, players or fans.”

Alasdair Musselwhite, the managing director of UBL, said that “in as much as UBL recognizes, and works with Fufa as the custodian of Ugandan football, UBL has contractual obligations to USLL which must be fulfilled and these can only be amended after due process of the law (being a body corporate) has been followed.”

Head of SuperSport Africa Andre Venter reiterated Musselwhite’s committment, saying warring parties should sort their disputes.

amwanguhya@ug.nationmedia.com