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FUFA Clears Seven Stadiums, Rejects Eight Forward of 2026/27 Season » The Touchline Sports activities – The Panorama Uganda
The Federation of Uganda Soccer Associations (FUFA) has accepted seven stadiums and rejected eight others following the completion of the stadium evaluation train carried out as a part of the membership licensing course of forward of the 2026/27 season.
The evaluation, carried out by the FUFA Membership Licensing Committee, sought to find out whether or not venues meet the minimal infrastructure, security and operational requirements required to host top-flight soccer matches in Uganda.
In response to the findings launched by FUFA, solely seven stadiums met the required benchmarks and have been cleared to host matches through the upcoming marketing campaign. These embody St. Mary’s Stadium in Kitende, Hamz Stadium-Nakivubo, Mutesa II Stadium in Wankulukuku, Kiira Police Area, Lugazi Stadium, FUFA Technical Centre in Njeru and Rwamwanja Stadium in Kamwenge.
Nonetheless, eight venues didn’t safe approval after inspectors recognized numerous shortcomings starting from poor enjoying surfaces to insufficient services for gamers, officers, followers and the media.
The rejected venues are Bugonga Fisheries Floor, MTN Omondi Stadium, Luzira Prisons Floor, Royal’s Park Butema, Kigezi Al-Madina Floor, Mbale Metropolis Stadium, Bombo Barracks Floor and Ebenezer College Floor.
A typical development among the many non-approved stadiums was poor pitch circumstances, with a number of venues having naked patches and requiring in depth turf upkeep, together with levelling, mowing, rolling and grass planting. Insufficient drainage methods additionally emerged as a serious concern, elevating fears of flooding through the wet season.
The inspection report additional highlighted deficiencies in dressing rooms, technical benches and sanitary services, with many stadiums missing devoted medical rooms for gamers and match officers.
A number of grounds had been additionally discovered wanting by way of safety and media infrastructure. A lot of the rejected venues don’t have media working areas, whereas some lack perimeter fencing, fan segregation and safe entry routes for gamers from dressing rooms to the sector of play.
Specific concern was raised over the state of MTN Omondi Stadium, whose synthetic enjoying floor was described as considerably worn out, particularly within the goalmouth areas the place it poses a severe threat of harm to gamers. The stadium’s floodlighting system was additionally discovered to be beneath the minimal necessities, averaging solely 503 lux.
Royal’s Park Butema, residence to Kitara FC, was faulted for its uneven enjoying floor, insufficient dressing room services and overgrown environment, whereas Bombo Barracks Floor was cited for poor sanitary services, lack of fan separation and the absence of a media working space.
Ebenezer College Floor and Kigezi Al-Madina Floor had been among the many venues with probably the most important shortcomings, missing fundamental infrastructure equivalent to dressing rooms, technical benches and perimeter fencing.
The publication of the inspection outcomes now locations strain on the affected golf equipment and stadium homeowners to undertake the required renovations and enhancements if they’re to safe approval to host matches through the forthcoming season.
The membership licensing course of types a part of FUFA’s broader efforts to enhance soccer infrastructure requirements throughout the nation and be certain that match venues present a secure {and professional} surroundings for all stakeholders.
Associated
The statistics are not a surprise to Umar Ali, who plays for Route One Rovers – a semi-professional team in Bradford.
During Ramadan last year, he was racially abused by a group of opposition spectators as he was waiting to come on as a substitute.
“It was our first game playing while we were fasting,” he said. “So obviously we were hungry that day and I was a bit less patient.
“Then when I was getting ready to come on, one of the fans said I should shave my beard off and that I looked like a paedophile.
“One of them picked up a child who was about six, seven years old, and said ‘I bet your wife’s the same age as this child’.”
Umar described the men as in their sixties.
“It’s quite distressing, because they’re older than my dad,” he added. “They’re my grandad’s age, and they felt comfortable enough to stand there and make comments like that.”
Umar said the assistant referee heard the comments and told the referee, who he claims did not take any action.
The police were eventually contacted and the spectators identified. Umar has not been informed of an outcome.
His manager Mohammed Patel was in the dugout during the match and said – while the opposition coaching staff apologised on behalf of their fans – he felt the officials fell short and should have removed those spectators shouting racist and Islamophobic abuse at his players.
Patel said: “It was a really emotional day for us, because the question we asked ourselves after that game is ‘Why is it still happening?’ Some of the things that were said were absolutely horrific.
“In my opinion, more needs to be done from the top down. We’re actively engaging and working with local FAs to try and navigate this problem, but it absolutely needs to be mandated.”
The Northern Counties East Football League fined the opposition club £300 and gave them nine disciplinary points. But Patel says that does not address the real problem.
“We’ve seen harsher punishments for violent conduct on the pitch or red cards, even administrative mistakes,” he added.
“Something as serious as this, we were absolutely not happy with the result.”
Patel has been lobbying the Football Association, but has not yet received a response.
He said: “Precedents need to be set, harsher sanctions need to be introduced. This comes from the top down.”
The FA said in a statement: “We have introduced tougher sanctions for clubs and individuals, a new behaviour improvement programme, and penalty points accumulation charges in the grassroots game.
“This builds on the steps taken to allow for deductions of league points from clubs that are repeated offenders of serious misconduct.”
Gymnast Ruby Evans has won Wales’ first Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow with victory in the floor final.
Evans, 19, performed the final routine of the women’s programme and defeated England’s Abigail Martin into silver, with her team-mate Shantae-Eve Amankwaah securing bronze.
Evans left the arena in tears on Sunday after her disappointing sixth in the all-round individual competition, that after Wales finished fourth in the team event.
Now, after Welsh identical twins Abigail and Emily Roper won bronze medals within a couple of hours of each other on Monday, Evans has delivered gold.
It was the first victory for Team Wales in Scotland and a ninth medal alongside two silver and six bronze.
There is also a guaranteed podium position for boxer Connor Williams after he reached the semi-finals.
An amateur cricket match has made global headlines after a fielder was accused of cheating by clicking his fingers to get a wicket.
The North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League has started an investigation into a second XI Division 2 game between Saltburn and Norton.
A viral video on social media appears to show a Saltburn fielder clicking his fingers as the ball passes Noman Shabir’s bat before being caught by wicketkeeper Josh Bowes. Saltburn appeal and the umpire gives Shabir out.
It has been suggested that the finger-clicking was designed to trick the umpire into thinking the batter edged the ball.
Saltburn won by 159 runs and are top of Division 2 by 17 points.
“The league have received a formal complaint regarding alleged incidents in a Division Two game on Saturday,” the league said in a statement on X.
“A full investigation has been initiated and until such time as the formal processes are complete no further comment will be made.”
Last week Bowes took eight catches in Saltburn’s 22-run win over Shildon Railway. The men’s Test record for catches by a keeper in an innings is seven.
Bowes leads the league standings with 31 catches, 10 more than any other player.
Rory Cotterill, who captained Middlesbrough second XI during a 29-run defeat by Saltburn last month, responded to a social media post containing the video and alleged two further incidents of cheating by Saltburn in that match.
The original video of the incident has had more than three million views on X, with publications in Australia and New Zealand among those to report it.
The BBC has contacted the league and Saltburn. Norton declined to comment.
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