On August 11 last year, National Council of Sports (NCS) through a letter signed by general secretary Benard Patrick Ogwel expressed concerns over Fufa’s application to be re-registered as the federation running football in the country.
The 2023 National Sports Act and the National Sports Regulations 2025 require that all national sports organizations re-register with NCS and the process that is expected to climax on June 7 has been going on for over a year.
Fufa sent in their application on June 19 last year thereby pushing NCS into a physical due diligence exercise where they established through respective District Sports Officers and Chief Administrative Officers that Fufa indeed has a national character as it has activities in 114 of the 146 districts of Uganda (more than the 110 threshold that translates to the 75 percent required for national federations).
Fufa, which stated affiliation to Cecafa, Caf, and Fifa, is approved to have also elected its leadership as required by a general assembly composed of persons drawn from at least half of the districts in Uganda.
While NCS still required some proof in the form of signed documents to endorse Fufa’s submissions in the aforementioned areas, their main concerns with the federation are in contents of the Fufa constitution. The federation, through chief executive officer Edgar Watson on May 20, called for an online extra ordinary assembly due this week on June 4 to sort these concerns.
Registration
In the amendment previously submitted to NCS, Fufa still made mention of themselves in their constitution as a Trust yet if registration for corporate personality is to be done at NCS under the new law, continuing to identify as a Trust establishes a dual personality.
Fufa want the online assembly to now ratify that ‘Fufa is a private body Corporate register under the National Sports Act Cap 151 as the monopoly regulators and managers of the sport of football in the territory of Uganda.’
But in Clause 74, Fufa say that: ‘Registered Trustees of Fufa incorporated under the Trustees Incorporation Act, Cap. 165 shall serve as the asset-holding entity in which Fufa’s assets are vested and registered until such time Fufa is duly registered in accordance with the National Sports Act, Cap. 151 and the relevant assets are lawfully transferred and registered in the name of Fufa, the body corporate.’
Assembly vs. excom
NCS also noted that while the national law gives authority to the general assembly to approve budgets, Fufa contradicts this by giving power to its executive committee (excom) to amend annual budgets to not more than 30 percent of the total annual budget.
Clauses 24 f (approval of financial statements of previous year), g (approving budget for the next final year), and k (determining and passing of annual membership subscription fees) of Fufa’s constitution will now exclusively give financial appropriation to the assembly.
NCS want Fufa to specifically express in their constitution that the excom is supposed to implement the decisions of the general assembly through the secretariat and take decisions not reserved for any other body of the federation. These are all now established in Clause 36 of Fufa’s constitution.
NCS also want Fufa to provide for the publication of their annual audited books of accounts in media of wide circulation. Fufa now agree to this in Clause 75 (4).
Settlement of disputes
Fufa are also required to provide for the recognition of the jurisdiction of arbitrators appointed under the Act and obligating the settlement of sports disputes between it and its members or NCS through arbitration.
While at it, Fufa wrote in their constitution that decisions of the aforementioned arbitrators can be appealed at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (Cas) but this, NCS said, was contrary to requirement of national laws that say the decision of these arbitrators is final.
Fufa have cleared this in Clause 67 but still maintain in 67 (4) that ‘if the arbitration mechanism outlined in the Act is has not yet been fully operationalized as stipulated, Fufa and its members will recognize and refer their disputes to the independent Cas, headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland as the final appellate authority for decision issued by the Fufa Appeals Committee or nay other final decision of Fufa bodies.’
Fufa also stressed that settlement of disputes between it and its members ‘by courts of Judicature is prohibited unless it is specifically provided for by Fufa Regulations. Recourse to ordinary courts of Judicature for all types of provisional/ interim measures also prohibited.’
In fact Fufa will require all its member associations, clubs, leagues to insert a clause in their statutes stipulating the same.
Any appeals against decisions taken by Fufa bodies can be submitted to the national arbitrators but these ‘shall not have jurisdiction to deal with appeals arising from violation of the Laws of the Game’ and ‘suspensions of up to four matches, or three months, or fines of up to Shs1m expect in doping cases.’ Fufa also want appeals to the arbitrators ‘not to have a suspensive effect.’