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Villa players suspended
Henry Katongole of SC Villa (L) vies with Express’ Tonny Odur during their Uganda Premier League encounter at Wankulukuku last week. PHOTO BY ISMAIL KEZAALA
KAMPALA. Nearly half of SC Villa regular starters will miss their second successive Azam Premier League (UPL) match away to Police today.
The five, skipper Jonathan Mugabi, Nicholas Sebwato, Misi Katende, Karim Ndugwa and Abdu-Karim Kasule missed the 3-0 defeat to URA on Sunday and will again sit out today’s match and, possibly, the final three of the season.
The aforementioned have been suspended for what the club are at pains calling “indiscipline”.
Unconfirmed reports claim the club accuse the said players of selling matches among others.
“I can’t tell you exactly what the cases are because they are under investigation,” Villa CEO Ivan Kakembo told Daily Monitor yesterday.
“So we have to let the disciplinary proceedings take place and it’s after then we can know,” Kakembo added.
This newspaper, however, understands the players are paying for questioning the club regarding salary and bonus payments.
“We have sacrificed a lot for this club in its ups and downs,” said one Villa player, who requested not to be named for fear of appraisal, “in delayed salaries and in unpaid bonuses but we have come and given our all on the pitch.” Villa have now gone five league matches without victory, including Sunday’s defeat to URA.
“Imagine we’ve gone two months without pay, this is the third month; and of the five victories in Caf (Confederations Cup), they only gave us bonus for one,” added the anonymous player, “We have families, we have to pay landlords, so surely…”
CEO Kakembo confirms the delayed salaries, but not the given number of months. “We have only not paid salaries for April,” he admitted, “unless they are also counting this month already.
“As for bonuses, we don’t have a policy for bonuses,” further explained Kakembo, “It’s at the club’s discretion.” Pressed as to what kind of contracts they give to players without winning bonus provisions, Kakembo, without revealing how much, loosened up: “We have a bonus policy for league matches but not Caf.”
President Museveni, through State House, gave Villa Shs400m for the club’s trip to Morocco for their continental tie against Fus Rabat last month. It is unlikely that all that was spent on the trip, where only 16 players were taken; which perhaps explains the players’ agitation about going unpaid. “As for how that money was spent, I’m not in position to tell you. It’s our financial director best placed.” Villa remain eighth on the league log with 38 points and were knocked out of the Uganda Cup by Big League side Onduparaka.
