The current standoff between Vipers SC and the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (Fufa) is threatening the course and existence of the 2025/2026 Uganda Premier League.
Fans, players and sponsors are all confused.
Unknown to many, this is not merely a dispute over fixtures or new league formats that Fufa imposed on the clubs. It is the final, painful symptom of a terminal disease that has been eating away at the heart of our beautiful game for years.
What we are witnessing is not a battle for football’s soul, but the last, lonely stand against its calculated executioner. Let us be clear: this is a brutal clash between former Fufa boss Lawrence Mulindwa and his prodigal son Moses Magogo, his successor. But to dismiss it as such is to miss the sinister plot unfolding in plain sight.
Dr Mulindwa is not fighting for Vipers alone; he is fighting a rearguard action for the very principle of fair governance, a concept Fufa has long since abandoned.
The timing of Fufa’s imposition of a new complex league format is a masterclass in political chessboard, not sporting integrity. Magogo, a seasoned politician, might have chosen the heat of the 2026 election campaign, perhaps with the knowledge that the Minister of Education and Sports, First Lady Janet Museveni, would be too occupied to intervene. This has created a toxic narrative that any club opposing the new league format is an enemy of the government.
So, many of you may wonder, why is Vipers standing alone? The answer lies in a chillingly effective strategy of coercion and co-option deployed against a fragmented league.
Check this out; the Uganda Premier League comprises three distinct categories: institutional clubs, community clubs run as limited companies, and community clubs under trusts. They have different drivers, different pressures, and cannot be treated as a monolithic bloc.
Yet, Fufa’s ‘reforms’ bulldoze these critical differences. Look at the 16 clubs. Eleven are institutional clubs, whose very existence often depends on staying in the government’s good graces.
Then, there are the community clubs. Personally, my beloved SC Villa, which I served as president for four years between 2014 and 2018, is a tragic case study.
The current Villa administration, while it disagrees with Magogo, is vulnerable, and has not even held elections. Magogo needs only to whisper to the fans about money woes to bring the club to its knees.
Furthermore, the club has a multi-billion-shilling carrot dangled before it in form of individual business contracts for the 2027 Afcon. So, it came as no surprise when Villa agreed to the new format, a move that has been seen as a stab in the back to Vipers. This is not consensus; it is capitulation bought with future promises.
Understandably, other clubs, like BUL and NEC, have acquiesced for corporate social responsibility, not for competitive fervour. The entire league has been subdued, not persuaded. The most glaring illegality in this charade is that clubs have a limited voice on the Fufa executive.
To me, this is the root of the rot. I forewarned of this very scenario four years ago. In essence, when the league’s representative on the Fufa executive has no stake in the clubs, the league ceases to be a united institution and becomes a puppet of the federation. So, Ugandan football is not dying today. It died the moment the Fufa executive allowed this farce to take root. It died when the love for gate collections was mysteriously replaced by other interests.
For context, there is an old African proverb: When a leopard tells its cubs that they smell like goats, it’s a sign it wants to eat them. Fufa has spent years telling our clubs they are weak and need its reforms.
Dr Mulindwa and Vipers are the last goat standing. If they fall, the leopard will have the whole pen to itself. And there will be no football left worth saving. So, Ugandan football is not dying today. It died the moment the Fufa executive allowed this farce to take root.