FUFA has on Wednesday held a consultative meeting with Women Football Club officials and also give an update about the restart of both the FUFA Women Super League (Top tier league) and the FUFA Women Elite League (2nd Division).
The meeting held at Jevine Hotel in Lubaga saw Clubs and FUFA deliberate on a number of issues in regard to the various competitions on how they can resume bearing in mind the prevailing circumstances of COVID-19.
FUFA Deputy CEO-Football, Decolas Kizza who represented FUFA 2nd Vice President, Darius Mugoye as the guest of honour at the function lauded officials for sustaining teams amidst the challenging economic environment.
“As FUFA, we extend our sincere appreciation to clubs and owners for staying afloat despite going almost a year without any engagements. We do not take this for granted and we laud you for promoting the game of football,” he said in his opening remarks.
“The purpose of this meeting is to see how competitions resume but bearing in mind that the principle of protecting health and wellbeing of everyone remains paramount as guided by FIFA. We have registered for International engagements for our national teams and therefore, to have players who are active domestically is important.
FUFA has registered for 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations Qualifiers, U20 FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualifiers and U17 FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualifiers.
Ahead of the resumption of the FUFA Women Super League and FUFA Women Elite League, Ivan Kintu Bayige the FUFA Club Licensing Mananger confirmed that both licensing of clubs and the FUFA Clubs Pro Agenda will be effected prior to the start of the season.
“As a requirement prior to the start of every season, FUFA must carry out Club Licensing and FUFA Clubs Pro Agenda as tools to help us attain professionalism. We are aware of the challenges especially in these COVID-19 times and some regulations have been loosened abit.” He said.
Club Licensing covers five main aspects and these include;
- Sporting
- Administration and Personnel
- Finance
- Infrastructure
- Legal
Some of the minimum requirements that must be adhered to both by teams in the first and second division include;
Sporting
- Each Club must have a certified coach. For the FUFA Women Super League, the minimum is CAF C and must be contracted while any grade will work for the FUFA Women Elite League.
- A club is mandated to have an assistant coach. For this season, he/she may be contracted or not.
- Clubs both in the FUFA Women Super League and the FUFA Women Elite League must have a medical officer.
- Clubs in the FUFA Women Super League will be required to have a minimum of five players who are contracted.
Administration and Personnel
- Clubs in the FUFA Women Super League and FUFA Women Elite League must have CEOs. In the top division, CEOs must be contracted.
Finance
- Every Club will be required to have a finance officer who will monitor the club incomes and expenditure and also help in budgeting of clubs.
- A marketing and Communication officer will also be a requirement for every club acros the two leagues.
Infrastructure
- It is a must for every club in the FUFA Women Super League to have a physical address(office) that is open regularly.
- Clubs will also be required to have a match day field and a training ground.
Legal
- Clubs as a requirement must declare their ownership to FUFA.
- Compliance to FUFA regulations is also a must for clubs to participate.
- Clubs will also be required to show their constitutions prior to the start of the season.
The FUFA Clubs Pro Agenda on the other hand covers 11 areas and this will be done per club a few days to the start of the new season.
The 11 key Players in the Club Pro Agenda
1- Goalkeeper-Structures
2- Right-Back-Finances
3- Left-Back-Medical
4- Centre-Back-Facilities
5- Libero-Stadium
6- Central Midfield-Senior Team
7- 7-Right Wing-Youth Set up
8- Central Midfield-Marketing
9- Forward-Fans
10- Forward-Communications
11- Left Wing-Event Management
Update on 2021 Season
FUFA Competitions Director, Hajatti, Aisha Nalule confirmed that the new season has been given a greenlight to resume after a year without action.
However, due to the prevailing circumstances in regard to COVID-19, there have been changes in the playing format.
“The FUFA Executive Meeting gae us the greenlight to resume Women Football competitions but within the guidelines of COVID-19. Therefore, there will be changes in the playing format with teams converging in one place unlike the home and away arrangement we have had in the past.” She said.
Both the FUFA Women Super League and FUFA Women Elite League will be played in a tournament format.
FUFA Women Super League
The FUFA Women Super League kick-off date has been set for 11th April 2021 at FUFA Technical Centre.
The 10 teams have been divided into two groups of five with the top two in each advancing to the Championship playoffs.
Group A
Kawempe Muslim Ladies FC
Uganda Martyrs High School, Lubaga
Kampala Queens
Makerere University WFC
Tooro Queens
Group B
UCU Lady Cardinals
Olila WFC
Lady Doves
Isra Soccer Academy
She Corporate WFC
FUFA Women Elite League
The FUFA Women Elite League League will be divided into four groups each of four teams with the leaders at the end of a round-robin qualifying to the Championship playoffs and determining the teams that will be promoted to the FUFA Women Super League.
The groups are as follows;
Group A
Asubo Gafford Ladies
Dynamic SS Jjeza
King of Kings
Luweero Giants FC
Group B
Rines WFC
Town View SS
Bunyaruguru Girls
She Kataka
Group C
Ajax Queens
Amuria High School
St. Peters SS
Vision WFC
Group D
Lango Queens
She Maroons
Echoes High School
Wakiso Hills
The FUFA Women Elite League is expected to kick-off on 2nd May 2021.
FUFA will cater for accommodation, feeding and testing costs while the teams are at FUFA Technical Centre.
Each team will be allocated 20 slots, of which a minimum of 16 must be players while one of the officials must be a female.
Only one group will be accommodated at the FUFA Technical Centre at a time and will leave once their games are finished to create space for another team.
