Kitara Football Club President Deo Kasozi has provided clarity on the club’s practice of releasing gate collection figures after every home match.
This follows a record-breaking gate collection of UGX 55.1 million during their first home game of the 2024/2025 season at the newly inaugurated Royals Park Stadium in Butema, Hoima City.
Despite Kitara losing 2-1 to NEC in the StarTimes Uganda Premier League fixture, the financial turnout exceeded their previous best of UGX 44 million collected at Masindi Stadium in a match against BUL FC in March this year.
In a post-match statement, Kitara disclosed, “We wish to declare that we realized fifty-five million, one hundred thousand shillings (Shs 55,100,000) from gate collections. The money will be used in supporting the club activities as planned in our 2024/2025 budget.”
Kitara has consistently made their gate collections public, a move Kasozi explained in an interview with CK Sports.
“The reason is to increase confidence amongst the fans, and for them to know how much they contribute to the team,” Kasozi noted.
He also emphasized that the fans eagerly await the figures, which are usually announced within an hour after the match.
Kasozi highlighted that while minor discrepancies in the figures may exist, “there might be some leakages, but they can’t be more than 5%.”
He further explained that the gate collections are used to cover essential club expenses, including player allowances, meals, and salary top-ups.
Kitara’s transparency has encouraged other teams in the league to adopt similar practices.
Newly promoted Mbale Heroes FC, following their 1-0 win over reigning champions SC Villa at Mbale Stadium, also publicly shared their gate collections of UGX 17.8 million.
Kasozi also urged the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to refrain from taxing sports gate collections, arguing that such a move could stifle the growth of football clubs.
