Games in the StarTimes Uganda Premier League do not always attract mammoth crowds for a large part of the past two decades.
Over the past 10 years, KCCA versus Vipers is the one fixture that packs the stands. You can then look forward to SC Villa, depending on what the club is chasing – survival or title.
Onduparaka, when they played in the top tier, and Kitara, during the 2023/24 season, have been the other oases of colour in the league.
However, when many chose to stay away from games this season due to the wide dissatisfaction over the reforms to the league, the silence in stadiums was loud.
If an empty ghostlike Namboole Stadium on October 4 was a sore sight, last Wednesday was heartbreaking. The scenes at the Fufa Kadiba Stadium were particularly symbolic.
Villa, Uganda’s most decorated club and fan-backed institution, played their first league match at the newly-approved Kadiba home ground.
But instead of homecoming celebrations, they were met with yellow and blue stands and bitter silence.
Outside the gates, a group of Villa loyalists staged mock celebrations, complete with beer parties and chants – yet none of them entered the stadium to watch their beloved Jogoos, who were held to a 1-1 draw by newcomers Entebbe UPPC.
Their resistance against the three-tier format complemented the rejection by Vipers and their president Lawrence Mulindwa whose team refused to play Kitara a fortnight ago at Namboole when a double-header was planned. The other game that day was KCCA’s 2-1 win over Villa.
In a desperate measure, KCCA dragged their causal labour force to Lugogo last Thursday for their goalless draw with Lugazi.
Someone had to see, let alone hear the rebuff by fans. Fufa president Moses Magogo on Saturday afternoon bowed, announcing the suspension of the controversial format.
The federation will revert to the traditional home-and-away system that has governed Ugandan football for decades.
Consultations
In a statement issued after an Executive Committee meeting, Magogo confirmed: ‘The Fufa Executive Committee has taken a decision to suspend the format of the 2025/2026 StarTimes Uganda Premier League season after consultations with the UPL clubs, league sponsors and the Uganda Premier League Board.
“Rule 14:4-12 of the Fufa Competition Rules 2025 will now not apply for this season.’
Magogo admitted: ‘Our new format failed because of a lack of adequate sensitisation. We shall revert to it in one year’s time after trying it in the lower leagues.
‘We have listened to the clubs, sponsors and fans, and decided to allow more time for explanation and preparation before full implementation.’
‘For this season, we shall play home and away fixtures, with all points accumulated across both rounds, similar to the previous campaign.
‘By the end of this season, we expect to have had enough time to explain the objectives and benefits of the new format so that everyone moves in the same direction.’
The league will now proceed under the old system, with already played matches standing. Newly-promoted Buhimba United Saints is top on nine points from three games.
Will fans now turn up? Under former club president Ben Misagga, Villa always sold a slogan that goes: there is no fun without fans. It was often a call for fans to show up in big numbers.
Stands have emptied largely due to the match fixing scandal (2003), Fufa’s fight with clubs in 2012-2013 which delivered two leagues and this latest controversy over the format.
No one knows how long the complete healing will take.