Africa-Press – Uganda. Starting May when the Fufa Drum province based tournament commences, there will be a new lifeline amongst the 16 teams set to participate and the drum beat will be louder.
This is after beverage company Harris International through their flagship brand Rock Boom injected Shs120m into the tourney for the forthcoming season scheduled to run between May to December.
The last edition, won by West Nile that edged Lango 3-2 on aggregate in the final in January, embraced a shortened version that had the 16 teams face off in a knockout format as the championship recovered from a two-year Covid19 induced hiatus.
According to Fufa Drum tournament chairman Rogers Byamukama, they seek to stage an improved fourth version of the competition with better welfare for teams whose accommodation, meals and transport allowances they have been catering for with Harris coming on board.
“The recent edition gave us more impetus to keep improving. The fans’ mobilisation across the country has shown that we can grow bigger,” Byamukama revealed.
He promised that the overall winners of the tourney will earn more than the Shs100m package that has been shared out in the last three editions won by Buganda, Acholi and West Nile respectively.
“The coming season will see the 16 teams spread in four groups with each team, even the weakest, having to play six matches – three home and three away. This will raise the competition level in the tournament,” Byamukama stressed.
Mahmoud Seblini, the Senior Sales and Marketing operations manager, Hariss International says they were lured by the countryside nature of the tournament and its ability to tap into grassroots football.
“Our slogan as Rock Boom is ‘feel the positive energy.’ We believe this partnership will help in pushing the Fufa Drum, a tournament that is full of excitement,” Seblini stated.
Harris joins MTN, Nile Special and NIC Insurance among the sponsors of the tournament.
Celebrating ancestry
To Fufa president Moses Magogo, the Fufa Drum is one of the avenues the federation is using to promote football across the political, religious and social divide in the country as they aim to be among the leading nations in Africa.
“We have a strategy called the ‘Hattrick’ and one of the three pillars is taking football to every homestead. I can proudly say that through Fufa Drum, we have been able to take the game to every part of the country.
“Through the tourney, people celebrate their ancestry because it gives them a sense of belonging,” Magogo said at the media briefing yesterday at Harris offices in Kawempe.
For More News And Analysis About Uganda Follow Africa-Press
