Namboole edges closer to return with tests
The new sprinklers at Namboole. PHOTOS/FRANK BAGUMA
What you need to know:
The national team has since been nomads, playing games at St Mary’s Kitende and anywhere within Africa as Uganda served a stadium ban from Caf and Fifa.
Namboole stadium is back. Yes. Okay, the renovation is almost done, four years after it hosted its last international game.
That was November 17, 2019 when Uganda Cranes beat Malawi 2-0 with Emmanuel Okwi and Fahad Bayo scoring the goals.
The national team has since been nomads, playing games at St Mary’s Kitende and anywhere within Africa as Uganda served a stadium ban from Caf and Fifa.
A section of Namboole Stadium.
Put simply – Namboole did not meet the basic standards among which included the playing surface, installation of seats, media booths, floodlights and digitised access among others.
To get all that sorted, parliament has to pass Shs97b to rehabilitate the facility more than two years ago.
The stadium is now all-seater
The local football body, Fufa, desperately wants the team to return to its eternal home for next month’s 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Botswana and Algeria.
Caf and Fifa are set to re-inspect the stadium with Fufa being required to do a test before it’s certified again.
After 1,627 days, Namboole will host football games next Wednesday, May 1, 2024.
Fittingly, the Startimes Uganda Premier League title decider between Bul and Vipers will be the first game at 4pm followed by KCCA against SC Villa, one of the biggest local derbies.
The dressing rooms.
“Fufa and the Uganda Premier League Secretariat sat together and agreed to have two league games serve as test matches for the refurbished stadium. We zeroed down on two key fixtures who have a bearing on the title race,” Fufa executive committee member Rogers Byamukama told the media on Wednesday.
You will pay Shs10,000 or Shs50,000 if you are a VIP (Very Important Persons) to be part of the test event.
StarTimes Uganda Premier League
Thursday at 4pm
Gaddafi vs. SC Villa, Gaddafi Arena-Jinja
Live on Fufa TV
Bright Stars vs. KCCA, Kavumba
May 1, 2024 at Namboole
Bul vs. Vipers, 4pm
KCCA vs, SC Villa, 7pm
