It has been an intense week off the pitch building up to the Uganda Premier League meeting between KCCA and Kitara.
It all started when KCCA head coach Abdullah Mubiru stated that Kitara is not a big team but rather a hyped and on form team in the aftermath of the Kasasiro Boys’ 1-1 draw with BUL in Lugazi on Friday.
This did not go down well with his Kitara counterpart Brian Ssenyondo and that has been and remains the case with the game upon us.
After all the talking, it is now action time with KCCA set to host Kitara at Lugogo on Friday evening and Mubiru is still not taking back his words whatever the outcome.
“Whatever I mentioned is the fact maybe if some people did not want to understand it,” Mubiru told the media ahead of the game before adding.
“Maybe some people have shallow knowledge about Ugandan football and the league but for any decent person, my statement was clear.”
“They are playing well and getting the results, yes but are they a big team? No. That is the honest truth whether you like it or not and I am certain that they are also aware.”
“Of the two teams who can benchmark the other? Can any team in Uganda go and benchmark Kitara? No.”
“But so many teams try to do things the way KCCA does and that is the truth and there is nothing I have to explain about that because I said the truth about the two teams and I am not demeaning anyone,” he added.
On the other hand, Ssenyondo acknowledged the fact that KCCA is surely a bigger team than Kitara but called for respect in certain circumstances.
“It is straightforward that KCCA is a bigger club than Kitara with a lot of history to its name but the words used in there to define us, I find them improper,” Ssenyondo told NBS Sport in an interview.
“They are a model club in Uganda but I think we need to be respected somewhere somehow rather than being referred to as a media hyped club.”
“We won our first trophy last season and played on the continent for the first time and how we played you would see a football team if one is to understand what I am saying.”
“We are playing in our second season and when you look at that journey it is an amazing experience and we can only get better.”
“We have not started well this season and they have which was not the case last season but I expect the game against KCCA to be good watch for any football lover and we shall try our level best to win,” he noted.
During the 2023/24 season, the Royals defeated the Kasasiro Boys home and away 3-1 and 1-0, respectively.
They also defeated them 1-0 in the first leg of the Super 8 quarterfinals before a 3-3 draw at Lugogo in August.
Coming into Friday’s encounter, KCCA have won one game 1-0 against URA while they drew 1-1 against BUL.
On the other hand, Kitara have won one 3-0 against newbies Lugazi and lost the other 2-1 to NEC.
A point separates them on the 16-team UPL log with KCCA placed fifth with four points whereas Kitara are positioned seventh on three points after two games.
