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Uganda in dire need of football stadiums
Nakivubo, the oldest stadium in the country, was demolished by Kampala-based businessman Ham Kiggundu in the name of ‘redevelopment’
What you need to know:
- The issue: Soccer stadiums.
- Our view: Fifa president Gianni Infantino recently decried the lack of stadiums and warned it was the biggest hindrance to football development in Uganda. It is about time the government constructed football stadiums for the good of the game.
The last week in sport has been a tale of three football stadiums; Nakivubo, Philip Omondi and St Mary’s.
Nakivubo, the oldest stadium in the country, was demolished by Kampala-based businessman Ham Kiggundu in the name of ‘redevelopment’.
The razing took stadium authorities and football stakeholders by surprise. Neither SC Villa nor Police, both of whom were using Nakivubo as home grounds in the Azam Uganda Premier League, were aware of the planned demolition.
Those behind the stadium’s flattening insist it is a redevelopment job, but cynics say that it the beginning of the end of an historic sports facility.
While Nakivubo was being taken down by graders, Vipers football club unveiled a new stadium in Kitende called St Mary’s. The ground, whose funding was by club owner Lawrence Mulindwa, was passed by Caf inspectors and will host a continental engagement this weekend when Vipers play host to South Africa’s Platinum Stars in the Confederation Cup.
Its grand opening will be held soon and football enthusiasts in the country are looking forward to watching matches at the new Azam Uganda Premier League venue.
St Mary’s advent will make Ugandan football better.
Like St Mary’s, KCCA’s Philip Omondi stadium is hosting continental games this season.
The artificial turf at Lugogo, also home to Proline in the league, has contributed to returning thousands of fans back to league football thanks to its proximity with most of Kampala.
Already the league season has witnessed sell-outs such as SC Villa’s visit of KCCA and Primeiro de Agosto’s first leg Caf Champions League preliminary tie against Mike Mutebi’s kasasiro boys.
Only the other week, the KCCA-Onduparaka showdown was so full that many supporters who couldn’t find their way inside perched themselves high up in the incomplete Forest Mall which is adjacent. The sorry state of sports facilities in the country is such that the few that existed were not preserved. They were taken over by so-called developers.
And now iconic stadiums like Nakivubo are going in full view of the public.
What is left in sports, as far as the issue of facilities is concerned, is individuals like Mulindwa who are touching in their pockets to erect structures that will pass the test of time. But should that be the role of private citizens?
Fifa president Gianni Infantino recently decried the lack of stadiums and warned it was the biggest hindrance to football development in Uganda.
It is about time the government constructed football stadiums for the good of the game.
