Mandela National Stadium’s UPDF Project Engineer, Lieutenant Col. Peter Kidemuka, says the venue will not be available to host Sports Club Villa’s first continental game against Commercial Bank of Ethiopia.
This is contrary to what Villa communicated prior, having registered Namboole as the venue for its CAF Champions League preliminary round one outing.
On Tuesday, Lt. Col. Kidemuka said the match won’t take place at Namboole due to the ongoing works on the running tartan track, unless the Jogoos use a plane to land on the pitch.
“There is no team that will play here,” Lt Col. Kidemuka stressed to the media before adding, “Namboole is still under renovation. It is a lie. They can’t come and destroy this [tartan track], and you can see it’s still wet.”
“They will not play; it is a rumor,” Kidemuka continued, reinstating that no team has been allowed yet to play at Namboole.
“If they are allowed, maybe they will drop them using a chopper here; where will they pass? It is impossible.” He adds that the pitch can be usable as it is, save for the inconveniences on the running track.
The development leaves the Jogoos in jeopardy with less than three days until their long-awaited continental showpiece in front of their fans.
Initially, Kitara FC’s proposed request to use the same stadium for its CAF Confederation Cup was rejected.
The Royals have since traveled to Libya, where they will play both the first and second legs of the first preliminary round against Al Hilal, Benghazi, given that the alternative request to play at Viper SC’s St. Mary’s Stadium, Kitende, was also rejected.
Whereas Kitara wasn’t successful in both attempts to play at Namboole and Kitende, on the other hand, Villa was set to play at Kitende before the Namboole development came up.
“As far as I am concerned, we are going to play at Namboole on Saturday,” SC Villa spokesperson Asan Kasingye told NBS Sport when reached for a comment.
“We addressed a letter to Namboole requesting the stadium and also visited the facility through the subcontractors before we received an acceptance letter.”
“That is how we made it public knowledge and stated the financial terms for our supporters. I personally saw the running track, and unless the latest has been addressed to the club CEO, William Nkemba, who should have told me by now, we are playing at Namboole on Saturday,” said the former Assistant Inspector General of Police.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Sports, Hon. Peter Ogwang, has promised to mediate between SC Villa, UPDF Engineering Brigade, and Namboole management over the availability of the facility on Saturday.
Ogwang said the government understands the importance of hosting matches for both Kitara and SC Villa at home and hopes for a meeting with UPDF today.
“On Wednesday morning, I am going to convene a meeting with the Ministry of Defense because, as a client, I feel they have even delayed, and I know this will be sorted out and Villa will host their match here.
“You can imagine the opponent is already aware of Namboole as the match venue, and it doesn’t make sense to communicate a change at the moment.” Ogwang noted this at the commissioning of the Pamoja Afcon Local Organizing Committee offices.
SC Villa qualified for the CAF Champions League after winning the Uganda Premier League last season.
For Kitara, they booked a ticket for the CAF Confederation Cup, having emerged as winners of the Uganda Cup.
