Has the foreign influx put the national league above the rest in the region?

In the 80s and the best part of the 1990s, Uganda’s national football league, the Super League was where every footballer wanted to show his skills before finally heading off to places like Oman and Asia for a hefty retirement package by African standards. Uganda’s clubs; Sc Villa, KCC and Express were competing on the continent with fair success. Villa reached two successive continental finals in 1991 and 1992; it lost to Tunisian Club Africain losing on a 7-3 goal aggregate. Villa made it again the following year this time losing to Nigeria’s Shooting Stars in the final of the then newly introduced Caf Cup. Several former and current players made their mark in the then popular Super league; James Kayimba, Manfred Kizito and Said Abedi Makasi first made their names in the Ugandan league. Abedi featured for the Ugandan big three (Sc Villa, KCC and Express) before his Rayon Sport stop-over as he was heading to Europe. Other regional teams like Kenya Breweries (Tusker), AFC Leopards, Gor Mahia (Africa Winners Cup champions-1987), Simba and Young Africans (Yanga) completed the big ones’ list in East Africa. However, all that changed mainly due to the advent of digital television that brought with it the Premiership craze. One of the reasons that the regional football leagues have fallen on hard times is the crowd violence that has turned away numerous fans from the stadiums. Derby games that involved KCC vs Express in Uganda and AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia in Kenya turned sometimes so violent that some businesses had to close for the period of the games to avoid the violence spilling over. The region has seen a massive drop in attendances with only as few as 100 fans even less attending matches in the 30,000-seater national stadiums across the East African region. One main factor to blame is the growing popularity of foreign leagues relayed via satellite. The popularity of the English premiership, French, Italian and Spanish leagues has affected the interest in local football and is likely to bury the game of football. Other factors, mainly being financial hardship in the region, have helped kill the sport. In Kenya where private investment in football is almost non-existent, self-reliant community clubs are almost dying out. However, Rwanda’s football seems to be sailing astray of some of the troubles that have faced its neighbors. Though there is the English league storm that has covered the whole country, Rwandans should take pride in the fact that that national football league is still a hot topic on the streets across the country. Teams still have fans following them for their up country engagements and though attendance figures show a different picture for the so called small clubs there is hope for the big ones. When Rayon takes on APR, the match can be the talk of town for weeks. The attendance in such games can’t be disappointing. Amahoro can fill to its capacity which isn’t the case in other regional countries save for Tanzania when Yanga takes on Simba. The national league has in the past attracted some of the region’s best players and coaches. David Otti, Sam Ssimbwa, Jackson Mayanja, and Abu Koroma have all coached local clubs. Sam Timbe, one of the best known coaches in the region is currently in charge of reigning local league champions, Atraco Fc. The league has attracted budding regional talent; national teams’ players like Titus Malama, Hassan Mubiru, Phillip Ssozi and many others who have all traded their skills in the Rwandan football league, mainly with APR. Being able to attract regional stars weighs tones. Leave alone attracting players in their twilight like Ibrahim Kongo who featured for Kibuye recently, the league has continued to appeal to regional stars; Abubaker Tabula, Vincent Kayizi, Alimansi Kadogo and Shaka Okello have all featured in the local league. Not forgetting that several East and central African players have continued to flock the league. To maintain this appeal the local football’s governing body Ferwafa should professionalize the league in order for all stakeholders to cash in on the benefits. Creating a league committee should be looked into. The running of the national league should be separated from other factions of the larger than life clones at the Fifa backed national body. Ferwafa should use their good reputation in Fifa to brand the league in order to have a regional appeal. This will help the local league to draw sponsors, attract more crowds and improve competition among the clubs. Ends

Lifestyle

Has the foreign influx put the national league above the rest in the region?