The Uganda Premier League is once again being dragged through the mud, not by poor officiating, not by administrative confusion, but by a deafening, scandalous silence from the very institutions mandated to protect, promote and project the country’s topflight football.
Since the league resumed from the mid-season break on Tuesday, not a single Uganda Premier League match has been broadcast on Sanyuka Prime or FUFA TV under the StarTimes sponsorship.
This comes despite several fixtures being heavily advertised, marketed and teased to a football-hungry public that continues to be treated with contemptuous disregard.
More alarming is the institutional muteness surrounding the issue.
Neither the UPL Secretariat, nor StarTimes, the league’s broadcaster and sponsor, nor FUFA, the sport’s supposed custodian, has offered even the most basic communication to explain the blackout. No press statement. No clarification. No apology. Just silence, arrogant, dismissive silence.
This is not merely an operational lapse; it is a systemic failure of governance, accountability and respect for stakeholders.
A Partnership in Name, Not in Practice
It bears recalling that StarTimes entered a much-publicized 10-year broadcasting and sponsorship agreement with the Uganda Premier League, a deal that was sold to the public as a watershed moment for local football commercialization and visibility.
Fast-forward to reality, and that “strategic partnership” increasingly resembles a hollow corporate slogan devoid of substance.
Even more damning is the fact that the opening matches of the 2025/26 season weren’t aired, extinguishing early-season momentum and betraying the very anticipation the league had worked to build. For a competition desperate for relevance, consistency and audience growth, such self-sabotage borders on the criminally negligent.
Regression Disguised as Progress
Before the AFCON-induced break, where Uganda’s national team limped out after finishing bottom of Group C with one point, the league had already been suffering from severely reduced broadcast output, especially when benchmarked against the relatively encouraging coverage witnessed during the 2024/25 season.
Instead of building on gains, stakeholders have overseen a disturbing regression, effectively shrinking the league’s footprint at a time when exposure is not optional but existential.
Clubs are bleeding financially. Players are denied visibility. Sponsors lose value. Fans are alienated. Yet those in charge appear perfectly content to preside over the decay.
Football on the Pitch, Failure in the Boardroom
Ironically, the football itself remains compelling. Vipers SC sit top of the table with 27 points, narrowly ahead of KCCA FC, in what promises to be a fiercely contested title race.
But what good is competition without visibility? What value does excellence have when it is hidden from the public eye? A league cannot grow in darkness.
A Call-Out, Not a Call-In
FUFA must be reminded that governance is not ceremonial, it is communicative. The UPL Secretariat must understand that silence is not neutrality, it is complicity. StarTimes must be held to account for contractual obligations, not public relations rhetoric.
Ugandan football deserves transparency, professionalism and respect, not broadcast blackouts wrapped in institutional arrogance.
Until answers are provided, this is not just a broadcast issue. It is an indictment of leadership failure at the very heart of the Uganda Premier League.
