Mutualized services in football are when two or more football clubs use the same service as a solution to solve a common problem.
The football clubs involved will put aside their rivalry to use a common service as a solution that would help them to grow.
It’s believed that in the late 1990’s SC Villa, Express FC, and KCCA FC formed an association named V.E.K because they weren’t happy about the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) paying them less money from the Nile Breweries league sponsorship.
The three clubs approached Hedex for sponsorship and played a tournament in form of a super cup.
In that example, three clubs had a common problem of less income from sponsorship then united to attract a common sponsorship service as the solution.
Football in Uganda has very many problems. Clubs are faced with countless challenges that keep increasing every other year.
Some of the problems faced by clubs include; lack of training and match day facilities, lack of competent human personnel, and poor governance.
The majority of the problems faced by football clubs in Uganda, can’t be solved by each of the clubs on their own because the cost would be unaffordable.
KCCA FC’s 2018-2022 strategic plan shows that the club needs an estimated $2.5 million to construct a stadium at their current location in Lugogo but has so far got about $600,000 to start the first phase of stadium construction.
On having the funds available to start construction, KCCA FC’s chairman Martin Ssekajja was quoted by the press to have said that, “We would like to call upon sponsors, fans and KCCA FC well-wishers who can lend a helping hand to come through. We are going to create an app that everyone will use to donate their money for this project and we shall account for every penny.”
The entire process shows that KCCA FC is struggling to raise funds to construct a stadium that meets international standards.
KCCA FC can use mutualized services to partner with one of their rivals like SC Villa or Express FC to combine the efforts that would be required to raise the funds to construct a stadium and share the venue.
Mutualized services can be extended with negotiating for shirt sponsors, sleeve sponsors, stadium naming rights, and partners.
These would enable KCCA FC and the other club to earn more because they would be offering more in terms of numbers.
It might sound impossible because of the rivalry between KCCA FC and Express FC or SC Villa but rivalries like AC Milan and Inter Milan in Italy have used mutualized benefits to share a stadium, and are planning to construct a modern stadium very soon.
The other mutualized services idea that would benefit KCCA FC is the size of the land on which they are planning to construct a stadium.
Would KCCA FC get more if they partnered with the Kampala Rugby Club?
Do KCCA FC and Kampala Rugby Club have similar problems that can be solved with a similar solution?
Mutualized services should be the leverage used by clubs to grow themselves and develop football in Uganda.
NB: Good governance and strategic management need to be in practice if clubs are to get the best out of mutualized services.
Thank you for reading!
Ben Mwesigwa 