Tag Archives: FUFA

Managing Finances for Football in Uganda.

Football organizations need money to operate yet it’s a very scarce resource because of the tight competition involved in acquiring it.
To beat the tight competition, football organizations in Uganda must have good financial management practices.

Managing finances transparently, efficiently
and effectively is essential to ensure continued income and growth for any football organization.

Mentioning good financial management practices and the majority of Ugandans in the same sentence is almost equivalent to mentioning water and oil in the same space. The two hardly mix!

Financial literacy is supposed to be taught from the infancy stage using the same effort as reading, writing, etiquette, and all the other lessons that are taught in that period of human growth.

Unfortunately, the majority of Ugandans don’t undergo financial literacy that would enable us to practice good financial management. As we get older, we struggle to manage personal finances yet besides, we have football organizations to manage.

A friend of mine named Peter traveled with his family and in-laws to Kabale to celebrate Christmas. As the norm usually has it in most Ugandan cultures, his parents gave his niece 10,000 Uganda shillings as pocket money on the way back.

Along the way, the excited niece and the mother planned on how to use the money and settled for the idea of buying roasted chicken to enjoy the road trip.
They gladly requested Peter that should he come across a selling point for roasted chicken, he should stop so that they spend their money.

Concerned about their choice on how to spend the money, Peter asked the sister in law and niece whether eating chicken was their main need.

Of course, his question wasn’t treated in a good way but he exercised his authority to inform them that he wasn’t going to stop.

The above scenario of impulsive spending speaks to the majority of us Ugandans yet we are required to manage finances in the organizations that we serve.

Another misconception among we Ugandans, it that good financial management practices is a job for people employed in the finance department yet it’s every individual that is part of an organization.

In June 2020, the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) approved that $1.5 million will be sent out to each member association as COVID-19 relief aid.

Football clubs in Uganda are already demanding for the money to pay off salaries and in typical Ugandan financial management fashion, there are already articles published to show how the money should be spent.

The money is not meant to bail out only football clubs but the entire football family of FUFA’s 34 members.

I can understand that football clubs in Uganda have been badly affected by COVID-19 and need money to pay salaries but I am very sure the majority of football clubs have always had inconsistencies in paying salaries.

I am not sure about the instructions but, If I had to decide, I would ensure that $1.5 million is spent on activities that will lead to growing or attracting competent human capacity within football and infrastructure that would lead to sustainable income within football.

For example, there’s no club with a training ground worthy of a professional football club in Uganda.

How many football clubs in Uganda lack training facilities? How many football clubs spend money on renting or hiring poor training facilities?

If part of that money were to be used to construct modern football training facilities in some parts of the country, would clubs still have to rent or hire training facilities as a cost? Would owning training facilities enable clubs to make money in the long run?

We need to prioritize the training of good financial management practices within football in Uganda.

It’s never too late and, will save us the burden that comes with the ignorance of managing finances for football in Uganda.

Actions that keep Ugandan football amateur.

Amateur football is the act of engaging in football to pass time usually without the expectation of remuneration.

Professional football is a full-time activity in football, working towards remuneration being more than what has been invested.

Football in Uganda was introduced by the British colonialists as a hobby.

It was viewed as a leisure activity that players, coaches, referees, administrators, and other football stakeholders could get involved in at the end of the day when they had finished up with work.

The year is 2020, football is still generally amateur in Uganda.

There are steps that are being taken by the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) to develop football into a profession but we still have decisions and actions that keep Ugandan football amateur.

In March 2020, Uganda’s domestic national team camped for training in the same period that coincided with the Uganda Premier League (UPL) matchday 25.

Some clubs had players reporting on match day to represent their clubs.

That incident on its own raises questions that prove our level of amateurism.

How did club coaches prepare their teams for matchday 25?

Did the national team coach share the players’ training workload with affected club coaches?

Could the national team training be delayed by a week or have UPL matchday 25 postponed?

We also have many incidents of coaches handling more than one team at the same time.

These include the national team coaches handling the domestic team and the majorly based foreign team considering that in March 2020 they were going to be in camp at the same time.

From May 2015 to February 2020, I worked as a full-time football coach but failed to see how it’s possible to coach more than one team at the same time.

The amount of work required to plan and prepare a training session, conduct and supervise a training session, to evaluate, and give feedback after the session is very demanding.

Professional football coaches work with bigger teams of support coaches but still require breaks (now known as sabbaticals) in between moving from one job to another because they need to recharge from the exhaustive task.

If any coach is handling more than one team at the same time, then it’s clear that they aren’t doing 30% of the work that should be done.

In the example of UPL and our national team coaches, these are the known professional football entities in Uganda but professionalism is on paper and not yet practiced at 100%.

If football in Uganda is to develop into professional then we need to accept that we are still amateur.

Arriving at the acceptance stage is what will enable us to start planning on how to become professional.

Unfortunately, 99% of the internal football stakeholders in Uganda either haven’t arrived at the acceptance stage and/or deny that football is still amateur.

We seem to be comfortable with football staying in its current stage.

Professional football would transform Uganda’s economy by reducing the rate of unemployment, greatly increase on the amount of taxes collected from football, football is a huge factor in increasing the number of tourists, and professional football requires knowledge that would improve the education capacity of the Ugandans involved in football.

For that to happen, we need to document the decisions and actions that are still keeping us amateur then plan on how to become professional.

FUFA should amend football regulations.

On 13th February 2020, the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) communicated an amendment of regulations on the status and transfer of players to ensure that solidarity mechanism payments be applied at a national level.

Part of FIFA’s communication.

When I read the amendment, it gave me mixed emotions.

I was very happy that domestic transfers will help to generate funds to grassroots football but also very disappointed and frustrated that the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) had never realized the potential of solidarity mechanism.

2020 marks four years since I wrote about the solidarity mechanism and how it could be used to generate revenue for football clubs in Uganda.

FUFA did amend article 30.3 regulations on the status and transfer of players but there was hardly any impact, close to wasted time.

FUFA’s Article 30.3 regulations on the status and transfer of players.

The above amendment gives FUFA more work yet they should be simplifying it by ensuring that clubs start and end the entire process.

All that FUFA needs is to supervise the process.

My other disappointment comes from us not wanting to lead, we always want to follow.

We don’t want to challenge the process.

We lack football administrators with genuine passion and creativity that would have an instant impact on the development of football in Uganda.

Can you imagine the impact and legacy if FUFA had started a quality domestic solidarity mechanism and be used as a case study by FIFA? 

FUFA needs to amend football regulations that reflect its mission to develop, promote and protect football for all.

For that to happen, it requires having employees that are well motivated to think full time on how to develop, promote and protect football for all.

At the start of the 2019-20 season Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) amended competition regulations so that a player can represent two different clubs playing in the same competition.

That amendment helped generate more revenue in the January 2020 transfer window and for UEFA competitions to retain good players.

Erling Braut Haaland joined BvB Dortmund from RB Salzburg after they met his release clause for a reported £17 million.

Before the amendment, Haaland might have joined Dortmund but the UEFA Champions’ League would have lost a player of his quality which affects TV revenue.

Haaland could have decided to stay at RB Salzburg to play in the knock out rounds of the Europa League which would have meant that Salzburg misses out on earning £17 million.

The same can be said of Bruno Fernandes joining Manchester United from Benfica for £47 million, Minamino to Liverpool from RB Salzburg for £7 million and many other transfers.

UEFA’s action is an example of how a well thought out amendment on football regulations can have an impact on the development of football.

Now that FIFA has sorted out the domestic version of solidarity mechanism, FUFA needs to comb through the rest of its regulations because amending most of them would have an instant impact on the development, promotion, and protection of football in Uganda.

FUFA can’t solve Uganda’s football problems on its own.

Whenever there’s a football problem in Uganda, the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) is expected to solve it.

Poor officiation, clubs not paying salaries, poor football facilities, players failing trials, unprofessional coaches, women’s football issues, unregulated agents, chaotic schools’ football, unethical administrators, football not being able to make front-page headlines, clubs not performing at the continental level, etc.

Think of any problem within Ugandan football, and FUFA will be the first culprit.

Some problems are comical like; clubs not having sponsors, age cheating in underage football, and transporting clubs.

As the body that’s in charge of football in Uganda, FUFA should take responsibility for the blame but they can’t solve all problems.

Using an example of corruption, the Ugandan government is responsible and should take the blame but can’t solve that problem on its own.

It requires sensitizing the public that acts like bribing police, bribing your way to getting a job, cheating in exams, expecting to be paid extra for performing a service for which you are already paid, falsifying receipts, etc. are all acts of corruption.

That way, the public will know that corruption starts with me.

It’s a problem that can go away if we change behaviour from our homes and the quality of upbringing.  

FUFA is a group of football associations. They are the members that makeup FUFA.

Uganda Football Referees’ Association, Uganda Football Coaches’ Association, Uganda Women’s Football Association, Uganda Football Players’ Association, etc. are some of the FUFA member associations.

An image showing some of FUFA’s member associations

FUFA needs to come up with a syllabus for developing the capacity of administrators to improve governance with FUFA member associations.

Come up with guidelines on who qualifies to be eligible for football administration courses.

Formulate a thorough member association licensing guide, delegate tasks that directly affect member associations, a balance scorecard, and an appraisal system for member associations.

From that process, it’s possible to ask questions like; What does each FUFA member association do to solve problems that are linked to them?

On 12th February 2020, the FUFA Competitions Disciplinary Panel (CPD) ruled that KCCA FC fans committed acts of hooliganism in a UPL match against URA FC after the Sam Ssimbwa (URA FC head coach) celebrated in front of them.

Interestingly, Sam Ssimbwa didn’t get any punishment, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is among the majority blaming FUFA for any problem.

Unknown to CPD, three football problems were “swept under the carpet” yet these will haunt FUFA in the long run.

The URA FC vs KCCA FC fans violence can be solved by making the Uganda Football Coaches’ Association answerable as to why they have licensed a coach that behaves that way, make the Uganda Football Referees’ Association answerable as to why the referee did not book the coach, make UPL, URA FC and KCCA FC answerable for the way fans behaved in that match.

There should be repercussions for each football problem, ensure that it’s documented and make sure the responsible member association is doing something about the found problems.

The repercussions should always trickle down to the coach, fan, referee, administrator, and player to always be answerable and start taking responsibility for any football problem.

How long will it take for FUFA member associations to solve problems and to ensure they don’t happen again?

How long would it take to solve the majority of Uganda’s football problems?

Bias in Ugandan football.

In 2009, I worked at a financial institution that went on to post obscene profits in their financial year results.

When management called for a meeting, every employee expected to have a good meeting. To their shock, management was very worried about the performance, they were sure something better needed to be done to improve or else they faced collapsing due to increased competition in that sector.

The research was conducted to objectively analyze that given the human resource at their disposal, they should be doing far much better irrespective of posting very healthy financial year results.

Poor service was identified as the major problem, this led to massive efforts into improving the quality of service.

Over the following ten years, the institution has greatly improved service and survived cut-throat competition to stay in business, unlike many other financial institutions within that same period.

In football psychology, there are two major forms of bias; confirmation bias and outcome bias.

Confirmation bias is where people seek information that supports their opinion, rather than looking for objective information and using flexible thinking to adjust their opinion based on facts and fair analysis.

An example of confirmation bias in Ugandan football is our thinking that a league should have more than 16 teams, it’s an opinion shared by many people involved in Ugandan football.

In our thinking, the more teams in the league, the higher the chances of having teams from more regions hence football development.

However, when you place the facts on the requirements to have a successful 16 team league, there’s glaring evidence that we would struggle with an eight-team league.

Outcome bias is when an incorrect decision ends up with a positive outcome at that moment, so we believe the decision is now correct.

An example of outcome bias in Ugandan football is the different wins or tournament appearances from clubs or national teams.

The majority of these are as a result of things (age cheating, luck in fixtures) that can’t be sustainable in the long run.

From those two explanations, it’s very easy to see how these forms of bias affect the development of football in Uganda because we are a society that only looks at results without a genuine assessment of how we got there.

Look around Ugandan football, it’s littered with very many other examples of confirmation bias and outcome bias.

The challenge with acquiring success through these forms of bias is that when you face a problem, it’s sometimes too late to find a solution.

See how a 16 team UPL in 2019 has struggled with pitches because of heavy rainfall and unplanned tournaments like The Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA)

One of the main factors that affect decision making in Ugandan football has got to be our inability to use effective forecasting which is a societal problem out of our upbringing.

As Ugandans, we generally prefer the short term happiness of how we feel at the moment (instant gratification) compared to how we feel later (delayed gratification).

If you told the Ugandan football community that having an eight-team league would buy time to develop the resources required (quality coaches, quality referees, quality facilities, competent administrators) to run a successful 20 team league, they would have you listed as crazy.

Recently, I was impressed when the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) started the take flight project in Women’s football. In this project, the Women’s Super League (WSL) was formed to be the top league with eight teams.

This came after Women’s football had posted impressive results in the 2018-19 season.

I am very sure that implementing “take flight” had a lot of challenges. Yes, it’s very demanding to work with eight amateur teams trying to become professional but can you imagine how harder it would have been working with 16 teams?

WSL will have its challenges. Poor officiating has already been raised as a concern by sections of the media but whatever challenges they face; it will take a shorter time to solve those problems.

Good to see that an objective decision was made to develop women’s football in Uganda because the people in charge used effective forecasting very well.

Hopefully, men’s football places its ego aside and borrows a leaf from Women’s football.