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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Federation of Uganda’s Football Associations FUFA has announced that the 2023 FUFA Drum final will be hosted at MTN Omondi Stadium in Lugogo on 23rd March 2024 despite its limited capacity.
Rogers Byamukama, the Chairman of FUFA Drum, disclosed this decision during a press conference held at FUFA House in Mengo.
Byamukama argued that MTN Omondi has been hosting some of the biggest fixtures in the country citing the recent two UPL games between; KCCA FC and Vipers as well as KCCA FC against Kitara FC.
“I think, I want to focus on organizing a very good final at MTN Omondi stadium, the process we went through to reach at MTN Omondi stadium at this point in time is immaterial because the date has been set, so we are ready for the game.”
“There are challenges in terms of capacity, but the date has already been fixed, so what essence is it for me to go back into the criteria?” he said
According to Byamukama, FUFA has prepared 6,000 tickets, with half of them reserved exclusively for fans from the provinces. Lango and Busoga Provinces will each receive 1,500 tickets, and the rest of the public will compete for the remaining tickets.
Busoga Province and Lango Province will play the final after the two teams secured positions in the final winning the semi-finals by aggregate score earlier in January. Lango Province eliminated defending champions West Nile 2-1 on aggregate while Busoga Province eliminated Teso on 3-1 aggregate.
The competition which is played between 16 provinces of Uganda is known for drawing significant crowds as fans flock to various stadiums to support teams they associate with their origins and many hoped for the final to be held in a stadium with a larger capacity than MTN Omondi Stadium like Mutesa II stadium and St. Mary’s stadium in Kitende.
On Wednesday, Lango Province petitioned the Chairman of FUFA Drum with a couple of concerns. The Chairman of FUFA Drum in Lango province said that their record fan base cannot be accommodated by the current capacity of MTN Omondi stadium with its associate risks and therefore requested a change of venue.
The West Nile Province is the defending champions of the FUFA Drum tournament 2022 after edging Lango Province 3-1 on aggregate in the 2022 two-legged final. The West Nile Province team won the first leg 2-0 and fell 2-1 in the return leg played on Sunday at the Akii-Bua Memorial Stadium in Lira City.
The FUFA Drum competition commenced in 2018, with Buganda and Acholi emerging as winners in the first and second editions in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
All Ugandan players are eligible to participate in the championship. However, for a player to represent a certain province, their biological mother or father must be of descent or ancestry from such a province or must have lived in that province for a period of not less than 10 years.
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