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Trophy will only reach stadium after final whistle
No replica yet. The StarTimes Uganda Premier League trophy is one single piece which will be taken to either Wankulukuku, Lugogo or Kitende after the conclusion of the season on Saturday. PHOTO/COURTSEY
What you need to know:
With a lead car and a loud siren mounted atop, or even a helicopter, all these stadiums are under 10 minutes from Mengo.
When Blacks Power won the StarTimes Fufa Big League in 2021/22, they were only crowned the following day at 10am.
The Lira-based side had been locked in a lower division title race with Maroons and Kyetume until the final race.
A 2-1 victory over Luweero United got Blacks Power the title that they only received on April 29.
Luckily, many fans went to the Akii-Bua stadium to witness the crowning. League organisers – Fufa – couldn’t have three trophies at three venues on April 28.
Fast forward to this month. The Fufa Big League title race between Mbarara City and Kitara went down to the final day.
Score has learnt that Fufa took all the necessary glitter to Hoima ahead of a possible crowning ceremony.
Kitara beat visiting Kaaro Karungi 1-0 to ensure that the balloons would be deflated at Kigaaya ground and not elsewhere.
Had Kitara stuttered and Mbarara won, the latter would have only lifted their trophy the following morning at Kakyeka stadium.
A similar logistics nightmare awaits the StarTimes Uganda Premier League as three sides – SC Villa, Vipers and KCCA – can lift the title today.
Villa, on 52 points, can win their first league title in 19 years if they beat URA at Wankulukuku.
Should they slip up, Vipers and KCCA who host Busoga United at Kitende and Solitilo Bright Stars at Lugogo respectively, can pounce.
The duo, tied on 50 points, who have won all but one of the last 10 league titles. So, where will the league trophy be at kick-off today?
“It will only be somewhere between Wankulukuku, Kitende and Lugogo,” Gordon Mundeyi, Uganda Premier League (UPL) head of communication told Score.
“The place will be easy for us to get either of the three venues. The crowning will happen by 5.30pm,” he said.
Is it time to have a replica trophy? “Currently there is no replica but all that is subject to money. There is a process to have replicas starting next season.”
Kitende is the farthest from the UPL offices in Mengo. It takes approximately 31 minutes to navigate the 15.7km distance on the Kampala-Entebbe Road.
It would take you 24 minutes to snake through the 7.4km divide between Mengo and Lugogo.
Wankukulukuku is the nearest as it’s located 4km via Kabusu and Wankulukuku Roads which would lose you 12 minutes.
With a lead car and a loud siren mounted atop, or even a helicopter, all these stadiums are under 10 minutes from Mengo.
And surely wherever the trophy ends up, it will be greeted to its loudest cheer in 365 days.
