East or west, home is best. The old saying has been its befitting best in the last couple of weeks with a big number of Ugandan footballers who’ve been plying their trade in Rwandan league streaming back north.

Not less than 15 Ugandan players who have been featuring for different Rwandan club have made their way back into the Ugandan national league that kicks off this weekend Times Sports has learnt.

Several of the players had their contracts with local club run out or were simply deemed surplus to requirements and prominent among is Ugandan international and former APR winger Vincent Kayizi who has since joined Kampala City Council.

The 24-year old who enjoyed good form during his two years at APR Fc had his contract not renewed.

According to several sources that Times Sports talked, most of the players are heading back home to cash on the new found GTV fortune and exposure.

Others like Atraco’s Joseph Kabagambe have taken to going through illegal channels to jump at the opportunity of playing in live televised league matches.

Atraco officials accuse the skilled winger to have forged paper in order to convince Ugandan club Express Fc that he was actually a free player.

While the player himself revealed recently that one of the reasons he is keen on leaving the Rwandan league is because of the lack of exposure, something on which he attributes him being dropped from the Ugandan national team setting.

He is reported to have signed for Express Fc and ideally he would be expected to make his debut in the televised Super League opener against SC Villa this Friday.

"He (Kabagambe) was not among the players we released but we were shocked to find out that he actually presented Express papers indicating that he had been released.

"It’s a shame that players (in this region) are still getting involved in such foolish acts. For us (in Atraco) we regard that as total indiscipline and we shall take necessary measures against him (for what he did),” an Atraco official told these reporters last week.

Player extends contract with Atraco
The former Ugandan international is reported to have signed a new two-year deal with the taxi-men side just under two weeks ago before returning to Kampala to disguise as one of the players sacked by the club.

The official noted, "He can not play for another club minus our consent, that’s a fact and we have proof to support our case. He just signed a new contract with us and so is still our player.”

"We as a club, we’re very much disappointed with his acts and we’ve already decided to take discipline measures against him.

"What is so disappointing is the fact that he used another player’s release letter, inserted his names and he’s going around disguising with it trying to prove to other clubs that he had actually been released yet that’s not the case.”

Ferwafa refuses to sign ITC
Local football ruling body, Ferwafa, on instruction from Atraco has refused to issue an International Transfer Certificate sanction Kabagambe’s transfer to Express.

"They (Express Fc) wrote to us asking for two ITCs for Omar Hitimana and Kabagambe, in turn, we also wrote to both Rayon Sports and Atraco requesting them to authorize us to do so (sign ITCs).

"Hitimana was free after being released by Atraco but because he featured for Rayon (during the Lotto Cup), we had to inform the club about Express’s interest and they allowed us to sign (his ITC).

"But for Kabagambe, Atraco wrote to us (with written evidence) indicating that the player had just signed a new contract and there is no way they were going to release him (for free) immediately,” Ferwafa CEO Jules Kalisa said yesterday.

GTV cash luring players
GTV signed a five year deal with Uganda’s football governing body, Fufa to invest over $5m in Ugandan Super league.

The deal which gets underway this Friday when the Uganda Super league starts, means that Uganda’s league will be broadcasted in the countries that have GTV viewership.

With probably over $100 million in its purse, the new Pay TV Company began beaming its programmes in the five East African countries five months ago.

The direct-to-home, satellite-based Pan-African pay-TV, a subsidiary of UK’s Gateway Broadcasting Service will be available showing selected games of the Ugandan super league.

Statistics show that in Uganda, of the 600,000 households with televisions, only 12,800 subscribe to a satellite service.
In June, GTV won a landmark deal for the broadcast rights to Barclay’s Premier League, the world’s leading football competition. 

The three-year license runs from August 2007 and covers around 80 per cent of all matches, including 10 live matches per week. 

The license covers 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa including Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda 

Player          From           To

J. Kabagambe    Atraco   Express?

M.Muwanga      Atraco        URA

Ismail Kigozi     Atraco        URA

E.Balyejusa        Atraco    Nalubale

M.Kisitu         Atraco     Nalubale

O.Moley         Atraco       Express

Ojok Morgan     Atraco       Boroboro

V.Kayizi              APR           KCC

I. Kongo              Kibuye        Simba

O. Hitimana      Atraco       Express

J.Kayimba   Police (Rwanda)         URA