Uganda Breweries Limited under their brand Guinness have today announced a partnership worth UGX 110M with FUFA towards the organization of the first ever Women in Football Bonanza to be held on 29th November 2023 at Sheraton Hotel.
The brief ceremony was held at the Uganda Breweries Limited (UBL) Head offices in Luzira.
The Women in Football Bonanza is aimed at recognizing efforts put in by FUFA to develop women football in Uganda in the last ten years.
FUFA set out a deliberate strategy to take women football to another level by creating a pool of players in the formed FUFA Women Elite League in 2015.
FUFA also organized capacity building courses designed at promoting women to take up roles in the game. This has created more space for women to get involved heavily in the game in different capacities like; marketing, communications, coaching, trainers, instructors and administration.
“FUFA has always believed that promoting women’s football could be an avenue to reduce such vulnerability.” noted FUFA 3rd Vice president Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi during the launch of the partnership.
The FUFA Deputy CEO-Football Decolas Kiiza, FUFA Lawyer Denis Lukambi, Margaret Kubingi –Chairperson of Uganda Women Football Association (UWFA) and former Crested Cranes player Jean Sseninde attended the event.
“It is from such a background that FUFA has partnered with Guinness – a beer brand distributed by UBL – ‘to pay attention to women attacking and making a mark in a male dominated sport like football, where they could otherwise be vulnerable.” added Hon. Nakiwala.
Guiness, according to UBL’s Head of Beer Matilda Babuleka, are injecting “Shs110m in cash and kind for five years” to spearhead this annual celebration dubbed “Women in Football Bonanza”.
This year’s celebration will be held on November 29 at Sheraton Hotel, Kampala and will have a symposium to show initiatives that can support the welfare of women in football.
“We are not only excited but celebrating the start of partnership between Guinness and FUFA. Guinness and football as we all know are inseparable and this partnership is long overdue. Under our ‘Black Shines Brightest’ campaign, we also want to shine a light on women’s football in Uganda,” Babuleka, who revealed it has taken almost a year for the two entities to seal off this partnership.
“We are gratetul to FUFA for trying to ensure that all top men’s sides have a women’s side too. We know that the FUFA Women Super and Elite Leagues have at least 10 teams each and the national teams are very active. These are significant strides that we are happy to be part of,” Babuleka added.
FUFA’s journey since 1924 covers interesting stories about women football. With ten years of mental change of women football in Uganda since 2013, the bonanza will aim further at bringing together all women in football to recollect and celebrate their achievements, highlights and challenges.
