KCC should look for sponsors

It’s not surprising that Kampala City Council Football Club players have been on strike over unpaid allowances.What was shocking was the club officials’ insistence on giving the impression that all was okay.And, trust KCC officials when it comes to acting. In what looked like a mixture of arrogance and false pride, they even had the audacity of rejecting a deal which would through Said Abed’s transfer to SC.Villa have gone a long way in offsetting the outstanding arrears.Even more intriguing was the officials’ aloofness not only to the team’s Lugogo training sessions, but also the players’ welfare, a weakness highlighted by the club’s offer of a sh50,000 christmas prize to players.Chairman James Ssegane,who is as regular at the team’s training as rain in the desert, expectadely had no time for the disgruntled players.Ssegane’s lack of interest in the proceedings was underlined on Saturday in the players’-officials meeting. He reported for the Lugogo meeting ,but barely stayed for a minute before driving off. You can guess his attitude in other club matters.Reports from the three-hour talks say the club will today pay one of the three outstanding months. But, does this save the club from the vicious cycle?. I see the players in the near future again laying down their tools.The solution lies in the club tackling the cause of the problem. KCC FC, started in the sixties to promote sports in the council, is visibly no longer in touch with current economic times.Council’s annual sports vote falls far short of the team’s demands. The deficit leaves the club swimming in arrears, a problem heightened in the off season period when there are no gate collections.Council argues that the players whose allowances are on an almost similar payroll as the institution’s other workers, should learn to be patient. After all, don’t the other employees go for months minus payment. But, this argument does not hold in a competitive world where hungry KCC players have to take on well facilitated opponent?It is probably time KCC swallowed its pride and thought about boosting the team’s funding by opening up to financiers from elsewhere. bakamajim@yahoo.co.uk.