SIR â€” Last Saturday evening, I was at Dominos Pizza on Kampala Road watching the Africa Cup of Nations (Ivory Coast against Egypt) with colleagues when all of a sudden the management switched channels to an English game between Arsenal and Bolton.

This is part of a bigger problem that needs addressing. When we complained, the management said most of the people were asking for and wanted to watch the English game! We were shocked and walked away in protest.

We took a ride along Kampala Road to check what people were watching and to our surprise most bars were screening the English match! Is the English game more important than Africaâ€™s most prestigious competition? I honestly think the Nations Cup should come first before foreign leagues for every football loving African.

There is no question about that.
Another amazing scenario is in the local game in Uganda where the National Football League Committee must follow the Premier League calendar while making fixtures for our local matches and ensure that matches here do not collide with big ties in England otherwise the fans wonâ€™t go to the stadium!

Even after endeavouring to coordinate the fixtures, fans still donâ€™t turn up in large numbers for our local games. It is much more difficult to find a Ugandan soccer jersey on the market compared to Arsenal or Manchester United ones that are littered all over the place!

Very few Ugandans can name a full Cranes squad yet they know all players in English teams, even those in the reserves, by heart! Why do Ugandans care so much about European football especially the Premier league? Do they think Europeans care about us the way we do for them? Of what help is it to Uganda?

The best the current foreign football craze has done for Uganda is pulling fans from the stadiums and brainwashing them that what we have here is trash and throwing our game into crisis.

The Ugandan press, instead of promoting our game the way their European counterparts do, are busy doing something else. What does giving the local league half a page and dedicating eight pages to European football mean?

Where has patriotism gone? Even the companies that used to support the local league have followed the fleeing fans leaving the league devoid of any financial support!

We really need to learn from the South Africans where, much as they know and love the Arsenals and Chelseas of Europe, their local teams like Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs shall always come first. now scores of players, including Ugandan ones (Omony, Batebaire, Obua, Obote) have run to South Africa to play professional soccer. Charity begins at home!

So fellow Ugandans, wake up and make some sense. We already depend on Europeans for national budget top-ups. must we turn to them for things we can do better such as playing football? The likes of George Weah, Abeid Pele, Yeboah ruled Europe and now Etoâ€™o, Drogba, Mido and others are doing wonders in Europe.

why donâ€™t we work hard and have our own out there? Imagine Mubiru or Serunkuma playing for AC Milan! wouldnâ€™t we be delighted?
Let us be true Africans and identify with as well as support Africa and anything African.

Francis Obita
Kampala

Former ethics minister Fr Simon Lokodo dies aged 64

Lokodo reportedly developed complications during his trip to Geneva.

Former ethics minister Fr Simon Lokodo dies aged 64

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