Kampala — The feud between Super Division Clubs Association (SDCA) and Federation of Uganda Football Associations (Fufa) is one that has been in place since time immemorial.

Almost every Fufa president has had to lock horns with SDCA, the body that brings together all super division clubs in the country.

SDCA has been in limbo for the last three years and according to the association's secretary Kavuma Kabenge, it is because of a 'regrettable move" that later backfired.

"We nominated Rajab Kisekka and Ben Omoding to the league committee so as to promote the spirit of fair play with Fufa but they failed because they didn't have terms of reference. In the end the two got assimilated into a bad system. However, the ones we have nominated will definitely have terms of reference," Kabenge, the Express FC secretary says.

SDCA has forwarded the names of Richard Omongole (KCC), Kavuma Kabenge, Fred Muwema (SC Villa) and Livingstone Lajan (Police) to Fufa, which will select two to constitute the new committee.

The terms of reference, Kabenge says, are those that will ensure that a good league is in place, players are being trained well and taken care of, sound administration and rally fans back to the game.

Kisekka and Omoding were the two representatives of SDCA on the Fufa Competitions Committee (FCC), one that has the brief of running all leagues in the country and headed by Col Jackson 'Bell' Tushabe. However, the two men have been passive participants in the affairs of the league and FCC secretary Magogo has been running a one-man show.

This woke up SDCA from the slumber to have its voice heard. "What we are fighting for is more scientific than what people think. We want to see our leagues redefined (read modernised) to enable them match others elsewhere," Kabenge argues.

Adding: "By modernising I mean having the right human resource like administrators, officials, players and fans. Fufa hasn't done any of that and now we are asking them to do that." "Football, elsewhere, has become an industry but Fufa hasn't put up the necessary structures to set football in that direction. That explains why the game is not growing at the moment." "When Fufa came into office, it promised sweeping changes and we believed at the time but right now some things seem not to be going right. The federation has no programme for the game and it needs guidance."

Last week, SDCA's poor relations with Fufa forced the minister of sports Charles Bakkabulindi to intervene. SDCA was even threatening to start its own league if Fufa continued to deny them attention. The meeting with the minister yielded good results as Kabenge says; "Our demand (having proper representation on the competitions committee) was duly accepted by Fufa and now we hope things are going to change for the better."

As part of the deal brokered by Bakkabulindi, SDCA is to have two people on the competitions committee, league funders GTV one and Fufa three. Fufa will draw the terms of reference for the committee whose role will be to handle the Super League, Kakungulu Cup and the lower division leagues.

The FCC will continue with their work of supervising all competitions. However, Fufa president Lawrence Mulindwa has labelled SDCA's move as treacherous and that some SDCA members want to topple him. Fufa elections are due in December. "They (SDCA) want to use the league to fight Mulindwa, nothing else," Magogo says.

Adding: "For instance they say that he has been influencing results on the pitch for his side Bunnamwaya but against Villa most decisions were going against Bunnamwaya so there is no bias."

On the issue of referees he says: "According to FIFA statutes, the local federation has the duty of looking after the referees for the league and not any other body. So SDCA taking care of the referees welfare is out, it's Fufa's business." He says referees have their own body that assigns referees games and Fufa just endorses them.

No plan for clubs

SC Villa's secretary Mugalu Luyimbazi is of the view that a neutral person should be secretary of the competitions committee.

"We want an independent general secretary and not one from Fufa. Several people appear on the same committees in Fufa like disciplinary and when you have a case, you would be facing the same people, something that could create bias," Mugalu says.

Magogo, the current secretary of the league committee is a Fufa official.

Kabenge goes on to say that the top leadership hasn't had any plan for clubs in Uganda. "Are we clubs?" he asks. Seeming to answer himself, he says;" We are not because the federation hasn't helped us. It believes it's different from us yet clubs are its affiliates." "The president is the leader of all clubs in the federation and as a matter of fact, clubs constitute 95 per cent of Fufa. He shouldn't divorce himself if he wants waning football standards go up."

Before this, in 2004, SDCA also put Fufa to task after it was discovered that the federation was providing a platform for intruders, something that was against the Fufa constitution. SDCA was questioning the legality of some districts, which had representations in the Fufa assembly yet they hadn't met the minimum requirements.

The latest of the disagreements was early this year when SDCA was at loggerheads with Fufa over sponsorship by other corporate firms. SDCA were of the view that they didn't have to seek clearance from Fufa before securing sponsorship. "We all agree that Fufa governs soccer in Uganda. What we don't want is for them to intervene in club activities while they are securing sponsorships," Kabenge said then.

To SDCA, there is nothing like a 'war' between with Fufa because the two bodies are one. All they want is a level playing ground for all stakeholders in the game.