FanLeague brings sanity back

The betting craze is blamed for many ills in Uganda.

Reports of homes breaking up or even students losing their fees in bets abound. All this is in quest of that ever elusive mouthwatering jackpot.

A new betting application that was launched last month, however, aims at ensuring that this community bets responsibly.

With their new product called FanLeague, participants can for as low as 20 UK pence (sh980) a week win several millions of shillings.

There is even more to it for Uganda sport. A fraction of the proceeds will be directed to  grassroots sports development.

"It's Corporate Social Responsibility. We would like to see Ugandan sport grow," stated Mikael Forslund, the company's Head of Custormer Experience.

For sh980, you predict the outcome of 13 matches and you stand a chance of winning a share of the weekly prize pot.

And unlike other betting houses that require you to get all the matches right, in FanLeague you are rewarded starting from 10 right matches.

Then there's £10,000 (sh48m) up for grabs in the season prize pot. "We'll take the average of your best 13 scores & if you finish in the top 100, you'll win a share," explained Forslund.

FanLeague was introduced in Uganda as one of the products of another betting company Poolbet Uganda Limited.

Uganda is the first African country where the application has been launched.

Details on the application can be accessed on the company's website www.fanleague.com.

To set the app rolling in Uganda the first 1000 people to register were each given £5 (sh23,399) for an entire season. It is still open.

Other Poolbet directors Wycliff Nuwagaba and Abdulrahim Dewo stressed Fanleague emphasizes responsible betting.

"While you can bet for as low as sh980, you can't also spend more than £125 (sh125,000) a week," stated Nuwagaba.

"It is also strictly restricted to only adults," said Dewo.

Fanleague started in  Sweden before its current updated version that is now global.