The Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) has said they may look for another venue for Saturday’s 2014 World Cup qualifying game against Senegal, after authorities at Namboole Stadium asked for 97 million shillings.
The Cranes, who started their campaign with a 1-all draw away to Angola last weekend, return today to start preparing for the Senegal game.
FUFA spokesman Rogers Mulindwa says the Federation is disappointed with the developments at Namboole Stadium adding that they had never been asked to pay such amount of money.
Mulindwa revealed to URN on Tuesday that the stadium initially asked for 120 million shillings but agreed to reduce to 97 million shillings. He describes this as ridiculous, noting that the stadium was built for all Ugandans and for football in particular.
The official further explained that in the past FUFA has paid between 20-30 million shillings to Namboole Stadium to host matches. He further revealed that they have now written to the State Minister for Sports, Charles Bakkabulindi, Vice President Edward Ssekandi and Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi to intervene.
FUFA Chief Executive Officer Edgar Watson says they are going to be forced to write to FIFA to clear them perhaps use Nakivubo Stadium to host the match, just four days before the game on Saturday.
When contacted, Dan Tamwesigire, the Namboole Stadium Board Chairman, however, said FUFA is not being open on the discussions held on Monday. The parties, according to Tamwesigire, had a meeting and FUFA was given options.
Tamwesigire says the Namboole management has been trying to speak to FUFA for the last three weeks and the Federation has reportedly been avoiding them hoping to ride on public sympathy by making the issue an emergency. Although he maintained that operational costs for the Stadium have gone up, the board chairman declined to discuss the contents of the said meeting with FUFA officials.
