UHA target weekend for league return
Hockey is among the sports activities that were affected by Covid-19. PHOTO/ISMAIL KEZAALA
What you need to know:
- UHA could be forced to remove the quartet from the new fixtures and also re-draw the first round tables (by cancelling all results involving these teams) to cater for these exits.
Uganda Hockey Association (UHA) are targeting this weekend as resumption date for the national league.
The league was suspended in June, with most sides having played just six first round games, following a presidential directive to suspend sports as one of the measures to curb the second wave of Covid-19.
Following the lifting of the ban a fortnight ago, UHA general secretary Stanley Tamale wrote to clubs last week to establish first, the “number of people that have accessed Covid-19 vaccination” as they sought to find subsidised testing for those yet to complete the doses.
The exercise to submit these lists ended last Friday and UHA will tomorrow conduct mass testing for their members.
Unlike the start of the season, where UHA footed the testing bill, this time clubs or individual players will have to bear the financial brunt. UHA have only secured testing services but each individual will be charged Shs10,000.
In our quick survey, this paper hardly found anyone that had completed the two jabs with majority of the players yet to receive even a single shot.
Fixtures headache
Another issue, however, that was troubling UHA as they sought to “redraft fixtures” is the commitment of completely student-based teams to resume.
Remember that by the time, sport was sent into recess, education institutions had been closed for nearly two weeks. That had forced Makerere University (Mak) and Makerere University Business School (Mubs) to ask for postponement of all of their matches till “schools are opened.”
Schools are yet to open but UHA have taken a liberal approach, where only “none responsive teams will be deemed not ready to resume the league.” By press time, Mak had confirmed participation but Mubs and Weatherhead Vikings had not.
In the women’s category, Rhinos had not.
UHA could be forced to remove the quartet from the new fixtures and also re-draw the first round tables (by cancelling all results involving these teams) to cater for these exits.
