Football stars score big in the hearts of Ugandan women

There was a time when working women rushed home to watch their favourite soap opera series. If you are a millenial, names like Santos Torrealba starring in La tormenta muerte, Salvador in Second Chance, Juan Miguel in Don’t Mess with Angel got many a woman fighting for remotes with their husbands.

This love for soaps is slowly dying away. A new era has been ushered in. More and more women are falling in love with sport. More and more women are watching the men’s game.

Many support a team because they have a crush on a particular football star. The most recent world cup highlighted Kylian Mbappe, a star footballer in Paris Saint-Germain club, who also doubles as a captain for France national team. He has become “every” girl’s favourite. Manchester City’s Erling Haaland has also garnered the team a myriad of women Ugandan fans.

Looks and talent

“I am not the type that loves football, but watching Mbappe play in the world cup got me hooked. His is very talented. And the fact that he is young makes me love him even more,” says Anne Kigongo, a student and football enthusiast.

She would do anything to have a moment with the PSG forward. “If he Mbappe came to Uganda, I would do anything to see him,” she adds.

Another football fan who preferred anonymity has a strong liking for Mbappe, a player she did not know, until the 2022 world cup final that got Lionel Messi and Mbappe praised far and wide.

“I was rooting for Mbappe all the way. We did not win but it does not change the fact that he is cute. He drew me to football and got me knowing different players, especially in the premier league,” she says. She is strongly attracted to Erling Haaland and has since become a Manchester City fan.

The story is different for Ugandan women football analysts or commentators, journalists and referees. Their love for the game primarily sprang from being close to their fathers or male siblings, but it does not negate the fact that they also have a football star crush.

“My dad used to take me for Arsenal matches whenever he picked us from school. Perhaps this is why I played netball and basketball throughout my high school. I competed in the school’s national championships and is seen in my career as a sports journalist today,” NBS’s Ritah Tugumisirize shares.

 “I have specialised in sports reporting and production, which is rewarding, especially with the ability to tell stories that transform lives. It comes with an opportunity to travel the world while covering sports events, my recent one being the netball world cup and recognition,” she says. She loves football, netball and basketball and understands the games technicalities.

“I also know a thing or two about athletics, boxing and rugby because we cover them a lot at,” Tugumisirize says.

Sports commentatry

As an Arsenal fan, Bukayo Saka stands out as her favourite player “because of his game intelligence.” Tugumisirize also loves Manchester City’s Rodrigo Hernández Cascante , one she describes as a great player because of his “work rate, and how he easily wins his duels. 

 Talking Rugby, she loves Micheal Wokorach, who has played for Toyota Buffaloes and Heathens. Wokorach was also captain of the Nation Rugby team, Rugby Cranes Sevens, According to her, he made the game appear so easy to play.

As a sports journalist and enthusiast, she says she is always glued on TV and various streaming apps for different games. While she does not play any competitive games, she enjoys watching and analysing sports.

Mellisa Reddy, a South African football journalist and author, left her role as the senior football correspondent at The Independent in March 2022, to become a senior reporter for Sky Sports News. Her coverage in the Premier League and Julia Stuart, former soccer analyst of SuperSport’s premier local football, shows Backpage and Monday Night Football. These are the people who inspire Tugumisirizi. She aspires to be like them or even better.

To realise this goal, she is enrolling for further studies to master the art of sports analysis. How about Ugandan sports? I ask.  Tugumisirizi says limited funding affects sporting activities back home. “We are playing catch-up,” she adds.

She watched Paul Mucureezi, Kitara FC midfielder in the Star times Uganda Premier League while he played for KCCA FC from 2015 to 2018. And this has been her home club since then.

She, however, declined to reveal her football star crush for fear of public judgement. “Hahaha Crush? I will keep that to myself because we are easily judged,” she explained. 

Nambi Sharifah, a sports journalist at NTV Uganda, says her love for football started at the age of six because she grew up in a family that supported Manchester United and Mawogola County Football Team. Her uncle, Hussein Bukenya, was the captain of the team and they reached the finals of the Masaza cup twice although they never won the trophy.

Each time they lost, Nambi and her family got sad. As much as Arsenal and Manchester United Football Club fans do not see eye to eye, Nambi had a couple of Arsenal fans for neighbours soaring her love for football.

What is in it for them?

She played football as a child. In Primary Four, Nambi started playing netball and proved to be a good player, but never gave up on football. A game she now plays just for fun. Her sports career died a premature death following doctor’s advice due to severe headaches. She was in Senior Three then.

What did not die, however, was her love for sports. According to her, “being a proffessional analyst, you have to be passionate about the game, read widely and make research. And yes, it comes with benefits because the people will trust you and also connect you once bigger opportunities arise.” She also loves and covers rugby and basketball. Nambi does not have a favourite soccer player. She likes players based on their competence. She, however, has a liking for goalkeepers and midfielders. During her active game days, they were positions she played.

Unlike many, she does not have a sports role model. She draws her inspiration from loving sports. Ugandan sports she says “We have a variety of sports here, but the people who run the different sports disciplines are just self-seeking individuals that want to gain as individuals but do not care about the players.”

Nambi believes that Uganda has talent and once fair recruitment is done, “we can be a power house on the continent,” Nambi explained.

Edina Alaba, a football referee for five years, began loving football in 2007. Her brother who was a Manchester United fan then, inspired her adventure in football.

She was a football champion during her school days, playing for leading women football teams such as that of Faima Aloi Senior Secondary School, Amugu SS among others. Alaba did not have to worry about school fees most times, great football skills catered for this.

Inspiration from family

She was a winger and a striker often, but stood out as a winger because of her speed. Her football idols are Aaron Wan-Bissaka, English professional footballer, who plays as a right back for Manchester United. She describes as tactical the 18-year-old Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo.

  “Wan exhibits great skill. Mainoo is very young but promising. He has a talent and will be one of the greatest of all time,” she said. What keeps her going are the young players she watches in the field every day.

Joan Akello, a journalist and football enthusiast started following football at a young age. “At the age of 10, my father would play football with his friends at the playground opposite the former Shoprite, Lugogo by-pass and he would take me and his sister along with him to watch the games,” she said

She loves the game even more “especially if her team or a sports personality she supports is winning.  According to Akello, “Sports is a great stress reliever for daily pressures of life and can be a source of relief.”

 She is loves athletics, football, handball, netball, rugby, volleyball, even though she has never played any of the games and synchronized swimming.

 Football players she said keep changing depending on their roles. Akello, however, loves Kylian Mbappé, Mohamed Salah when playing for his national team, Egypt, French national team players Antoine Griezmann, N’Golo Kanté, Raphael Varane, Spain’s Andres Iniesta and Brazil’s Roberto Firmino know by most as Bobby.