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Fufa treating ref Kiwewa bribery scandal seriously - boss Mugisha
What you need to know:
Acting Fufa president Justus Mugisha told Daily Monitor yesterday that although they won’t interfere in the investigation, they are going to follow the matter to its logical conclusion.
KAMPALA. The men in black are back in the spotlight. Overnight, almost everyone in domestic football circles now knows the name Emmanuel Kiwewa, the distressed referee at the heart of the bribery accusation in the University Football League.
Kiwewa, who has also been officiating topflight league games was suspended by the Fufa Referees Standing Committee (FRSC) on Tuesday evening for allegedly soliciting a bribe.
“The Fufa referees standing committee has been made aware of allegations against you following the incidents in the context of the match between UMU vs SLAU played on October 18, 2019 at Nkozi grounds of which the details are that you contacted a university official soliciting for a bribe so as to manipulate or influence the results of the aforementioned match,” FRSC communication reads in part. The committee also forwarded the matter to Fufa’s ethics investigatory chamber for further investigations.
Acting Fufa president Justus Mugisha told Daily Monitor yesterday that although they won’t interfere in the investigation, they are going to follow the matter to its logical conclusion. “I’m glad the committee is working on him and we want to get to the bottom of this. The bribery vice must be stopped,” he added.
In the audio, Kiwewa allegedly requested for shs1m to fix the results of the semifinal return leg match between Uganda Martyrs University (UMU) and St Lawrence in the University Football League that was played last Friday in Nkozi.
“Tell the manager to finalise everything today. There is no Ugandan player currently who is not worried when I’m on the field of play,” the voice tagged to Kiwewa can be heard telling Mugerwa. The game ended in a 1-1 draw and 2-2 on aggregate where St Lawrence eliminated UMU 3-2 on penalties to storm the final.
Kiwewa (pic inset) had already courted controversy in the topflight league this season after cancelling a Ronald Sempala header that he thought had gone wide but should have given Bright Stars the lead in their 1-all draw against KCCA.
He was also accused of bias in a 2018 Uganda Cup semifinal fixture at Kitende in which he awarded what then SC Villa coach Wasswa Bbosa described as a dubious free-kick that resulted into the lone goal of the game. “We missed many goal scoring opportunities today and missed. The referee got one opportunity and took it,” Bbosa fumed in the presser.
