For more than a decade, Soccer Stars football Academy Uganda has been dedicated to training and promoting football among children in the Mengo – Kisenyi area without charging fees.
However, they have now changed their operations to start charging after the Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA) announced that the country’s sports authority, the National Council of Sports, has aligned to enforce a registration process for academies at a cost to acquire licenses from the government as core of streamlining professional work of academies and also work on the National law Sports act.
FUFA president Engineer Moses Magogo recently stressed that academies must register with the National Council of Sports through FUFA to obtain government permission, and he announced that continuing to train football without an academy license will become a criminal offense.
Once they confirmed that the issue had moved forward, Soccer Stars football Academy Uganda leaders decided to change their normal operations, which had been training children for free, and unveil a start to imposing fees on their services, dropping from the theme raised at the start of the academy.
At a press conference held at Kenandia Hotel in Katwe – Makindye on March 22, Soccer Stars football Academy founder Isaac Ogogo said,
“We started with no goal of making children pay because in Mengo – Kisenyi areas, children were addicted to drugs including marijuana, and many have been giving up on the habit.”
“Parents who have been observing our efforts are the ones who have been pushing us, and maybe even parents of children we got on bursaries have been working hand in hand with us.
“Football has become a business because if we are to pay for a FUFA license, and the Government also wants us to pay more than two million.”
“If we continue our services for free, we won’t manage because we are in football not because we are rich but we love it and we try to make it interesting for kids in terms of having time to continue drugs adictions, therefore at least 70% will have to pay.”
Meanwhile, Ogogo further announced a new academy management on a 2-year term at the academy,
“As Soccer Stars football Academy Uganda, we are fortunate that today we have a new leadership that will take over the academy for the next two years, because we need people with the capacity to match the standards set by the authorities.”
The executive committee that we declared today:
- Mr. Kigozi Isaac (CEO)
- Mr. Muhammed Mukhtar Abdullahi (Deputy CEO)
- Mr. Mutazindwa Diirisa (Head of Parents)
- Mrs. Bintu Sserunjogi – Head of Finance/Treasury
- Mr. Kasozi Ibrahim (Technical Manager)
- Daniel Daniel (Academy Coordinator)
- Mr. Kamoga Bashir (Academy Manager)
- Mr. Buyondo Saddam Omaria (Ex-Com)
- Mr. Ndugwa Hassan Hossam (Ex-Com)
- Mr. Masana Friday (Manager)
- Mr. Ssekyanzi Abbasi (Resource Mobilizer)
- Kasirye Ronald (Public Relations and Marketing)
- Mr. Tukahebwa Vian (Head of Medical Department)
