Mutyaba beaten, jailed over protest at Fufa House
Ex-international Sulaiman Mutyaba has vowed to mount pressure on FUFA President Moses Magogo until 'player-issues' are addressed. Photo | Courtesy
What you need to know:
- Mutyaba has lately been in the news seeking the resignation of Fufa President Eng. Moses Magogo over unpaid players’ dues.
The ongoing feud between Sulaiman Mutyaba and Fufa took an ugly turn on Friday with ex-Uganda Cranes forward being beaten and then jailed for holding an illegal assembly.
Mutyaba has lately been in the news seeking the resignation of Fufa President Eng. Moses Magogo over unpaid players’ dues.
He chose to hold a peaceful demonstration on Friday at the federation offices in Mengo, a Kampala suburb while holding a placard that bore the phrase “Magogo Must Resign.”
As he sat on the ground with a placard, one of the security guards hired by Fufa from a private security firm beat him with a stick repeatedly leaving significant bruises on his body.
The former Vipers, Express, KCCA, TP Mazembe (DR Congo) and El Merriekh (Sudan) winger was then arrested by police and driven to Old Kampala Police Station.
There, Mutyaba, who retired in mid-2020, was denied police bond and spent the night in the coolers. A source says he will be charged with “holding an illegal assembly.”
It was the most undesirable turn of events in a fight that has cast Mutyaba into the light more than perhaps his time on the pitch did as he is now an advocate for improved players’ welfare.
Over the past fortnight, he has come out loudly on his personal social media handles accusing Fufa and Magogo in particular of “eating players’ money.”
Ex-international Sulaiman Mutyaba
This entails allowances and bonuses accrued from participation in the Africa Nations Championship and the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
In addition, Mutyaba questions the payment of a total of Shs50m monthly by the government to national team players which was promised by President Yoweri Museveni four years ago.
Fufa has not given a clear explanation on how much players are owed and when this money will be paid. However, Magogo explained that this is not new as “every organisation has debts.”
Without going into the specifics of the accusations, Magogo did respond this week accusing players of playing “shitty football” and therefore undeserving of payment.
“What did they play in Chan? When you demand money, what have you put on the table? They went there and played shitty football,” he said at a media event where he launched his bid for a third term as Fufa president.
The process that will bring 88 delegates to the elective assembly in August starts on Saturday with the election of District Football Associations (DFA) members.
