KCCA FC Express and SC Villa

The Federation of Uganda’s Football Associations- FUFA has amended its Competition Rules to give Ugandan clubs room to use more foreign players than it was before.

The amended article will allow teams to use close to five foreign players in FUFA and the Confederation of African Football-CAF matches. Previously, a Ugandan team was only permitted to utilize three foreign players in FUFA-sanctioned matches to allow Ugandan talents to thrive without competing against foreign players.

According to FUFA Communications Director Ahmed Hussein, continuing to restrict Uganda’s clubs to a few foreign players while their rivals elsewhere use foreign players would be a disservice since other countries have an open policy on the same. He said that at least one of the five will be a goalkeeper.

Vipers FC became the second Ugandan team to reach the CAF Champions’ league group stages level, after KCCA FC which qualified in 2018. As part of their build-up for the group stage contests, Vipers signed two DRC players last month to beef their squad up. These joined the growing list of foreign players at the club.

Vipers SC currently has seven international players on their roster, five of whom are DRC natives. They are Gracia Mpongo Mbombo, Darcy Mbaka Kipoyim, Rodriguez Shamamba, Alfred Macumu Mudekereza, and Olivier Osomba. The same team has Abubakar Lawal of Nigeria and Fabian Mutombora of Burundi as part of its squad.

But the previous rule only allowed them to field three players in a FUFA-sanctioned match. Simon Njuba, the CEO of Vipers SC welcomed the development saying that it will help many of their foreign players get enough playing time. To him, the changes would have been made years ago in the interest of football development.

KCCA FC Express and SC Villa

“It is a good amendment, it has actually been delayed because if we are to look at developing t more than it has been, then, of course, you need people with different experiences from different parts of the continent. So I believe it will push our football further”, he said

“I believe it will also benefit us as one of the clubs who have bought more of these foreign payers because they will get more competition time and yes it does improve the football here, if you have people with different experiences from across the world, there is more you are getting to the dimensions of football than what you have in the country”, he added