Football administrators are to blame for the violence in stadiums, FUFA vice president in-charge of the League Mujib Kasule has said.
Kasule says football administrators have often times flouted the FIFA statute and the fines and sanctions, which are intended to control any form of violence.
Kasule’s observations come just a day after SC Villa was sanctioned for Monday’s violence during a URA-SC Villa Bell Lager Uganda Cup quarter final game in Lugazi.
The match was aborted in the 71st minute after fans threw stones disputing a penalty awarded to URA by referee Fred Mufta forcing police to shoot tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. URA was leading 3-1 at the time.
Kasule says fans of ‘big’ clubs like SC Villa, KCC and Express have been notorious for throwing stones when their teams are losing.
He said when he was under Uganda Super League Limited (USLL) before he joined FUFA, he recommended that Villa plays five matches without spectators, pay a fine of Shs 5 million and also arrest some fans who had been identified when the team fans threw stones during a game in 2010.
He however explained that he met lots of resistance from his fellow USLL members who are also officials of the giant clubs.
In the FUFA competitions committee verdict yesterday, SC Villa is to lose the game 3-0, forfeit 20% of the gate collections, pay three million shillings for abandoning the game and produce the ring leaders of the violence. The Villa Park side will also be fined 300,000 shillings for refusing to resume playing after the chaos, lose 1.75 million shillings from sponsors
SC Villa head of Football Strategy Joseph Kanaaba told URN that they will not appeal, but said the issue of violence must be tackled by all stakeholders. He says that host teams that are responsible for security must be well prepared and the police must also be taught how to handle crowds during matches instead of rushing to fire teargas.
Express official, Kavuma Kabenge, simply said this is not the time to throw blame, noting that FUFA must also learn how to handle issues. Kabenge said crowd violence must be taken very seriously because it can also chase away sponsors.
