Uganda Premier League has released the 2023/2024 season fixtures with the opening match slated for Friday, September 15, 2023.
According to the fixtures, SC Villa will Kitara FC at the Wankulukuku stadium in one of the opening games, Mbarara City will also host NEC FC while BUL FC will visit Bright Stars at Kavumba.
Unlike the previous edition, the forthcoming season will have 16 teams. The league had been temporarily reduced to 15 teams after Kyetume fell short of meeting the rigorous licensing requirements mandated by the FUFA, leading to its unfortunate exclusion.
The dynamics shifted because, at the end of last season, only two clubs including Onduparaka and Blacks Power FC were relegated to FUFA Big League while three clubs including NEC fc, Kitara, and Mbarara City were promoted to the Star Times Uganda Premier League.
The fixtures come barely a week after FUFA made a U-turn and allowed both Busoga United and Arua Hill FC to part in this season’s league after their successful appeals. FUFA had previously removed the two clubs after failing to clear their club licensing requirement.
Vipers SC are winners of the Star Times Uganda Premier League. Vipers, the defending champions defeated Busoga United 5-0 on the final day of the season at St. Mary’s Stadium in Kitende in May this year.
“Busoga United FC and Arua Hill SC have succeeded with their appeals to the FUFA Club Licensing Appeals Committee to be included in the 2023/2024 Uganda Premier League fixtures. The two clubs had initially failed to meet some of the minimum Club Licensing requirements.” Reads a statement from FUFA
For a long time, FUFA Club licensing has remained a dilemma for clubs that fail to meet the deadline that is set by FUFA. This has often forced FUFA to cut off clubs which subsequently impacts the number of teams that participate in the league.
In a recent interview with URN, FUFA Communications Director Ahmed Hussein said the FUFA Licensing exercise takes five aspects of professional football which were initiated a few years back in a bid to professionalize local leagues. These aspects include the sporting part, finance, administration, structure or legal, and the infrastructure of the club.
While several clubs struggle to fulfill all the requirements at ago, Ahmed Hussein explained that there are basic requirements that are required from a club if it is to attain a license provided that the applicant commits to fulfill the requirement in a given time.
