The Ugandan football landscape has been rocked by a heated exchange between the Vipers Sports Club president, and former FUFA president Dr. Lawrence Mulindwa, and the current FUFA president, Moses Magogo.
The controversy stems from the rule change in the 2023/24 StarTimes Uganda Premier League season, where the decision to use head-to-head as the primary tiebreaker, instead of goal difference, caused a stir amongst Ugandan fans and football community at large.
This rule was popularised by Magogo towards the end of the season, when he posted on his official X platform on May 9th, 2024 that, “The 2023/24 FUFA Competitions Rules (Article 14(4)) rank league format competitions using the following priority order: 1. Points accumulated, 2. Head-to-Head Goal Aggregate, 3. Virtual Points, 4. Goal Difference, 5. Goal For, 6. Fair Play”
This was just 9 days to the end of the league, and at that time Vipers and BUL were level on points with 3 games to go. After the announcement, Vipers, who were in first position, dropped to second and BUL rose to first because the latter had a better head to head record.
Although the league title was ultimately won by SC Villa, which finished with 57 points. BUL and Vipers finished the league both with 56 points but BUL finished in second place ahead of the Venoms because of the better head to head record.
During the unveiling of Vipers’ new coach, Nikola Kavazovic, on Wednesday, June 19th, Vipers President Dr. Mulindwa expressed his discontent with the league’s format change, calling it “kangaroo laws” that were introduced at the “wrong time” and appeared to favour BUL over Vipers.
“I saw towards the end of the league it was becoming funny, because if you come out two or three games to the end of the league and you bring in something new. You say that the league will be decided by head to head, that’s not right,” he said during the unveiling.
“The timing itself when the announcement was made doesn’t make sense. Removing goal difference doesn’t encourage people to score. Because that’s what entertains the fans more.” He added.
“Now when you say that goal difference is not important, because you wanted BUL to take the trophy (Uganda Premier League). Football is decided on the pitch but not by kangaroo laws,” Mulindwa critized.
However, in a response, Magogo has now issued a comprehensive statement defending the FUFA’s decision, citing the need to maintain the integrity of the game and prevent a potential “goal race” situation that could have damaged the league’s reputation.
In a statement issued on Friday, June 21st, Magogo explained that the changes to the league’s ranking system, which prioritized head-to-head record over goal difference, were made by the FUFA Executive Committee in September 2023, way before the start of the season. He emphasized that this was not a last-minute decision made to disadvantage any particular team.
The FUFA president also pointed to the precedent set by CAF (Confederation of African Football) regulations, which also prioritize head-to-head over goal difference in group stage competitions, as a justification for the rule change.
Magogo’s statement was a direct rebuttal of Mulindwa’s accusations, stating that it was incorrect to refer to the new regulations as “kangaroo rules” and that FUFA does not favour any team over another.
