Ali finds gift in unbreakable spirit

Gift Ali is usually mentioned in the same lines with the likes Steven Bengo, Ibrahim Saddam Juma, Ronald Muganga, Joram Katende and Daniel 'Mzeey' Sserunkuma as "unfulfilled potentials". 

He actually accepts life the way it is. A staunch Muslim, he knows that whatever happens is by Allah's will and mentions the word Alhamdullillah every time. In fact, at one time, he nearly failed a football trial because he was fasting and unwilling to break his fast before dusk. We shall come to that later. 

Two weeks ago, Gift Ali signed for Tanzanian outfit Coastal Union and is aiming at a fresh start, moving on from all that didn't go well with him in the past. 

Ali, nicknamed "Gigi Seven" for his love for the No.7 jersey, started out from the bottom and took the ladder to the top. Do you remember the famous Kampala Kids League (KKL)? 

From Arua with a dream

KKL, a youth talent spotting program for early teen footballers, identified talented young players and formed a team that went on to win many tournaments in Europe. It actually laid the ground for many footballers of the time.

But it had a limitation in scope because it was predominantly a Kampala thing, like the name suggests. So, in Arua, Gift Ali's birthplace, they copied a similar program, and named it Arua Kids League (AKL). 

And as KKL traversed different regions, one day it went to face the best collection of youngsters from West Nile.

This was 2004, Gift Ali was in Primary Five at Islamic Primary School. 

The match ended in a scoreless draw and Eddie Butindo, the KKL eyes and ears, spotted a young, dark skinned chubby boy called Gift Ali, captain of the AKL. He was impressed. Challenge was how to bring him into the KKL program because of distance and school.

Butindo promised to keep in touch and for Gift Ali, life went on as usual. True to his word, in 2006, Butindo ferried the boy to Old Kampala SS. The school was on a scouting mission to strengthen its team and many youngsters showed up for trials.

Gift Ali played only 30 minutes and nearly collapsed. He was fasting. And had travelled 500km that very day. 

"I just told them I was tired and couldn't handle it anymore. Good enough those 30 minutes had been so good and the selectors had already seen what I could offer. They asked me to break my fast and continue but I refused," he recalls, laughing.

Now that is typical of Gift Ali. They say people from West Nile are big headed. But talk to them, they say they are just "principled" and their word is their word.

In 2007, Old Kampala offered him a vacancy in Senior One on a football scholarship. His talent saw him walk straight into the senior team. Not many Senior One students do achieve that. Dennis Guma, Saddam Juma, Juma Balinnya and Emma Magembe were some of the other players. 
 
Goodbye Arua. Welcome to Kampala. 

Gift Ali's involvement in Arua football matters didn't completely die with his departure. 

He kept playing for second division Arua Central FC, which was vying for promotion to the top tier. They actually achieved that feat in 2009, with him as captain.

Arguably the youngest player to ever captain a team in the top flight. He was just 16.

Top league comes with hectic fixtures and travels so he found himself moving between Kampala and Arua to play for his team. But this set him on a collision course with his father, who wanted him to focus on his books.

"My father was very angry with me; he said he had only left to me go to Kampala for books and Old Kampala business, not Arua Central business. I ended up missing many games because I didn't want to fight with him," says the midfielder.

The Proline revolution 

Around the same time, Mujib Kasule had founded the Proline Soccer Academy. The trailblazing, talk of town team had joined top flight football via a merger/purchase deal with Nalubale FC in July 2009. 

Gift Ali fitted their philosophy.

He was young, extraordinarily talented and had some league football experience in him. In 2010, he joined the yellow and purple team and became the much talked about midfield lynchpin Butindo had spotted a few years ago in Arua.

Imagine a midfield that had him, Andrew Buteera, Robert Wurube Lopidia, Mawanda Moses, Richard Luyima, Davis Kamista, among others. 

That midfield ran rings around many established players with its crystal, quick passing game. 

Gift Ali was simply the fulcrum and local football fans believed that hadn't it been for football politics between Kasule/Proline and Fufa, he should have been playing for the national team at that time. 

Cranes call finally, but alas...

After the Nalubale takeover by Proline, legal battles flew here and there. Fufa suspended Nalubale for breach of contract with the players.
Remember, cash-hit Nalubale had released all its players on free transfers and Proline didn't need them. 

Proline had its own players to rely on in the league. Fufa had reasoned out that in letting the players go and Proline refusing to take them on, the original employer (Nalubale) were not meeting their obligations to the players and ruled that Nalubale (this time Proline) couldn't play in the league until the players' issues were sorted. 

Proline went to court to challenge the ruling. After a back and forth fight, finally, Proline came out victorious. This left Fufa with a sour taste and there is no doubt Proline players were overlooked for many national teams, especially youth teams. 

It was not until 2012 when Kasule joined Lawrence Mulindwa's Fufa as Vice President that Proline players like Gift Ali started getting call-ups. That season, Proline were moving from Kasule to Abdallah Mubiru as head coach. 

Mubiru got the best out of Gift Ali. He made him his primary weapon in midfield and the player repaid the faith with big displays and some crunching goals along the way. 

One against URA FC in Lugazi stands out for me. Picking a cross from Ausi Kaaya (RIP), Gift Ali chested it to cool down, dummied Sam Ssenkoomi and released a belter into the roof. 

Another game at Nakivubo pitted him against Villa's Bengo in midfield. We all agree Bengo was a generational talent. A master of his craft. Gift Ali pocketed him and to ice the cake, assisted William Wadri for the game's only goal. 

Such displays meant one thing: he was ripe for the national team. And indeed they called him up for the Uganda Cranes team prepping for the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup on home soil. 

Unfortunately for him, that call-up ended in disaster. 

During one Cranes training session, under Bobby Williamson, Gift Ali picked a knee injury. All he received were painkillers because well, the injury didn't seem serious at first. But after a closer follow-up, the knee had swollen and Williamson broke the sad news.

"Son, I think this is more serious than we thought. I advise you to rest it and see how it goes. I will have to move on without you, sadly..." Those words had sealed Gift Ali's fate.

He left camp and Uganda went on to win the regional championship after defeating Kenya 2-1.

Luckily for him, he was the captain of the national U-20 (Uganda Hippos) under his club coach Mubiru. But you can't compare a junior team to the senior team and the opportunities that come with the latter.

After considerable time resting the injury, it "healed" the natural way. He continued playing on but slightly below the standard that his talent promised. Also, in 2013, Proline got relegated for the first time in its history and that meant he could operate away from the many eyes of the top flight. 

Gift Ali remembers the hell he has gone through with these injuries and looking back, he is caught between laughter and tears. 

One time the club couldn't afford to pay for a scan costing just Shs.70,000. They gave him Shs.50,000 but this was only enough for an x-ray.

He painfully called his mother back in Arua for assistance. At a time when you would expect him to be the one sending money to his mother.

"My mother took akabbo (small basket) to her friends and mobilized money and sent it to me. I felt ashamed of the whole experience but what to do? These things sometimes make us doubt ourselves but persistence pays in the end. If my story can inspire a young footballer out there, let it make him know that an athlete's life is full of bumps," he adds.

Taking Police and KCCA to the cuffs 
 

Gift Ali was now a bit shadowy. At one time he kept away from the game and gained weight like Tyson Fury. The good thing about him is that every time he came back to play, he'd easily control things in midfield. 

Like they say, class is permanent. 

In 2017, he joined Police FC but could only last the first round of the league.

Reason? We all know how Ugandan football clubs don't fulfill their financial obligations to players. 

"They were failing short on their word on the signing fee that we had agreed on. It reached a point where I couldn't even afford transport to take me for training.

We had back and forth talks which failed to yield any penny and I ended up going back to Proline. I was back 'home' and I scored five goals in the second round, including one against Police as punishment," he jokes. 

KCCA came calling. He inked the dotted line for four years. He won the league and played continental football and life was going well again. But the injury ghosts didn't spare him. He got injured again, this time needing surgery.

Again, Ugandan football clubs. The injury happened in March 2022, and his contract was due to end in June/July the same year.

A mini fight ensued. The club, according to sources from within, speaking on condition of anonymity, were reluctant to foot his surgery bills unless he extended his contract, which he refused. They eventually agreed to treat him and paid out his remaining three months and released him. 

A very trying moment for the player because he and his partner had just received a baby boy in May. Now there he was, gritting his way through a year and a half without employment.

"Alhamdullillah, all came to an end. Prayer and resilience are very key in life and for me, I know that for as long as I am still alive, Allah has better plans for me," he reasons.

Focusing on "the now"

Late last month, Gift Ali played for Proline in his umpteenth stint. His last game was that painful 2-0 loss to Ntungasaze FC in the Fufa Big League playoff at Lugogo. 

He would later join Coastal Union and ink an emotional letter to Proline, his mother club, the club that shot him onto the national scene. He is focusing on a new start in a foreign land, an experience he prays will erase his older wounds. 

After going through all that pain in a career that has not really delivered what it initially promised, Gift Ali believes that he currently is in a better state of mind than ever before. 

For the first time, he is playing outside Uganda. In Tanzania, the pay is good. They are a bit more professional and such an environment enables players to play their best football.

But isn't it too late?

"I do not need anyone to tell me about myself. I know what I want and I will push myself to see that I offer what football still expects from me. Allah put me where I am supposed to be. 

"I am a firm believer in His power and timing. I know I can still play at the highest level; I am the type that looks at the present and knows that the past is gone," he concludes.

For players like Gift Ali, it is hard to break them, because they keep bouncing back and putting their best foot forward, shooting their way through the concrete like desert cactus. 

All the best. 

In brief

Name: Gift Ali Abubakar

Nickname: Seven

Old Kampala SSS teammates: Dennis Guma, Saddam Juma, Juma Balinnya, Emma Magembe

Big moment: I walked straight into the school's senior team despite being as young as Senior One 

Place of birth: Arua

Schools: Arua Islamic Primary School, Old Kampala

Clubs: Arua Central, Proline, Police, KCCA 

Current club: Coastal Union

National teams: Uganda U-20 (captain)