Kavuma Report Offers No Remedy For FUFA
Jan 04, 2004
THE report of the so-called Kavuma probe, released one and a half months later than scheduled, has the bureaucratic character of identifying simple solutions for difficult problems.
The report of the so-called Kavuma probe, released one and a half months later than scheduled, has the bureaucratic character of identifying simple solutions for difficult problems. The inevitable consequence is that the former is too small for the latter and the latter too large for the former. The Kavuma probe was set up to diagnose the causes of apparent confusion in FUFA’s management of soccer affairs in the country and prescribe appropriate remedies. But a look at the ‘remedies’ advanced in the probe committee’s report indicates that hardly any of them was based on pragmatic consideration of chances of successful implementation. Nevertheless, it is pertinent to examine some of the more significant recommendations, for what they are worth. In my opinion, the most
hazardous of the Kavuma probe’s innovations is the recommendation that
both FUFA’s executive and the FUFA General Assembly be disbanded and replaced by a Football Commission. According to that recommendation, the
Football Commission, which should have a FIFA representative as a member, should take over the administration of soccer in the country and be
responsible for setting up a new infrastructure for the management of the game. On the face of it, that might appear to be a simple solution capable of
solving the complex problems which besiege the delicate task of soccer
administration in the country. But, in my opinion, it is a non-starter.
First and foremost, such a step amounts to a deliberate breach of the FIFA statutes which earns automatic suspension for Uganda. The FIFA
statutes specifically prohibit political or government interference in the
running of soccer affairs which is the sole responsibility of the national association. This means that FIFA cannot recognise any Football Commission
set up to displace FUFA, hence the suggestion of having a FIFA representative on the said commission is idle talk. Given that situation, the probe team’s recommendation that Uganda should withdraw from all international competitions save the Nations-World Cup qualifiers is, to put it mildly, superfluous. The bitter truth is that once Uganda is suspended by FIFA it is automatically ejected from all the international competitions. It has no option to withdraw from only some of the international competitions and remain in Nations-World Cup race as the probe report erroneously envisages. In fact, suspension will mean that
Uganda cannot even play any international friendly matches at both national
and club levels. It is my contention that the argument that since FIFA is also interested in Uganda’s soccer being efficiently administered it will condone the flagrant violation of the FIFA statutes is most absurd and unconvincing. It
is akin to the completely unpalatable proposition that since the Uganda
government is committed to the elimination of criminal activities it will condone the process of stoning thieves to death in the course of implementing mob justice. In any case, how can the standard of soccer in Uganda be improved by keeping all the country’s players, referees and coaches, locked up in a water-tight compartment for a couple of years or even more? What merit is there in the argument that in order to improve the performance of a boxer you must keep him out of the ring until he has mastered (heaven knows how) the art of landing effective left hooks and dodging the opponent’s
deadly right jibes?
Interestingly, the Kavuma probe team, acting in the same manner as the mini-skirt which discloses a lot that is superficially interesting but conceals what is vital, never acknowledged FUFA’s construction of its own offices at Mengo as an achievement. And yet by that achievement FUFA
became one of the very few national soccer associations on the continent
which have their own offices. Of course I am aware that the funds for constructing the FUFA offices were provided by FIFA, but It has to be appreciated that the choice of which national associations should benefit from that FIFA programme was based on merit. It seems that, for the probe team, the fact that for the first time in the history of CECAFA a Ugandan, FUFA boss Denis Obua was elected
chairman of the regional soccer governing body, was a mere accident that
does not deserve any applause. And for some soccer enthusiasts that was merely eloquent testimony that 2003 was the worst year in Uganda’s soccer history. How much of that history they actually know remains a matter for conjecture. The Kavuma probe team produced a report that embodies lamentably hollow findings and obsolete recommendations. I, for one, would not hesitate to consign it to the waste-paper basket.
Ends
hazardous of the Kavuma probe’s innovations is the recommendation that
both FUFA’s executive and the FUFA General Assembly be disbanded and replaced by a Football Commission. According to that recommendation, the
Football Commission, which should have a FIFA representative as a member, should take over the administration of soccer in the country and be
responsible for setting up a new infrastructure for the management of the game. On the face of it, that might appear to be a simple solution capable of
solving the complex problems which besiege the delicate task of soccer
administration in the country. But, in my opinion, it is a non-starter.
First and foremost, such a step amounts to a deliberate breach of the FIFA statutes which earns automatic suspension for Uganda. The FIFA
statutes specifically prohibit political or government interference in the
running of soccer affairs which is the sole responsibility of the national association. This means that FIFA cannot recognise any Football Commission
set up to displace FUFA, hence the suggestion of having a FIFA representative on the said commission is idle talk. Given that situation, the probe team’s recommendation that Uganda should withdraw from all international competitions save the Nations-World Cup qualifiers is, to put it mildly, superfluous. The bitter truth is that once Uganda is suspended by FIFA it is automatically ejected from all the international competitions. It has no option to withdraw from only some of the international competitions and remain in Nations-World Cup race as the probe report erroneously envisages. In fact, suspension will mean that
Uganda cannot even play any international friendly matches at both national
and club levels. It is my contention that the argument that since FIFA is also interested in Uganda’s soccer being efficiently administered it will condone the flagrant violation of the FIFA statutes is most absurd and unconvincing. It
is akin to the completely unpalatable proposition that since the Uganda
government is committed to the elimination of criminal activities it will condone the process of stoning thieves to death in the course of implementing mob justice. In any case, how can the standard of soccer in Uganda be improved by keeping all the country’s players, referees and coaches, locked up in a water-tight compartment for a couple of years or even more? What merit is there in the argument that in order to improve the performance of a boxer you must keep him out of the ring until he has mastered (heaven knows how) the art of landing effective left hooks and dodging the opponent’s
deadly right jibes?
Interestingly, the Kavuma probe team, acting in the same manner as the mini-skirt which discloses a lot that is superficially interesting but conceals what is vital, never acknowledged FUFA’s construction of its own offices at Mengo as an achievement. And yet by that achievement FUFA
became one of the very few national soccer associations on the continent
which have their own offices. Of course I am aware that the funds for constructing the FUFA offices were provided by FIFA, but It has to be appreciated that the choice of which national associations should benefit from that FIFA programme was based on merit. It seems that, for the probe team, the fact that for the first time in the history of CECAFA a Ugandan, FUFA boss Denis Obua was elected
chairman of the regional soccer governing body, was a mere accident that
does not deserve any applause. And for some soccer enthusiasts that was merely eloquent testimony that 2003 was the worst year in Uganda’s soccer history. How much of that history they actually know remains a matter for conjecture. The Kavuma probe team produced a report that embodies lamentably hollow findings and obsolete recommendations. I, for one, would not hesitate to consign it to the waste-paper basket.
Ends