Kamuli Progressive banned for fronting 25 year old in schools games

Kamuli, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Busoga sub region Uganda Secondary Schools Sports Association-USSSA, committee has banned Kamuli Progressive College from participating in their activities for a period of two years.

The school has been banned after being found guilty of fronting an over aged non-student as part of their football squad during the ongoing post-primary secondary schools regional championships.

The games teachers of Kamuli progressive have also been banned for two years without participating in any USSSA related activities.

USSSA is an umbrella body mandated with organizing football, netball, volleyball, basketball, handball and athletics for secondary schools all over the country.

Prior to their flopped semifinal game against Jinja SS which was slated for 3rd April in Kamuli Municipality Stadium, independent whistleblowers petitioned Busoga region’s USSSA secretariat, accusing Kamuli progressive of practicing unsporting behavior, by deliberating clearing an over age impostor to feature in a students championship.

Jinja SS has thus been cleared with a walkover to proceed to the finals against Jinja Progressive Academy, slated for 9th April 2022.

USSA has further seconded Iganga town view SSS to replace Kamuli Progressive, as part of the four sub-regional representatives in the nationwide post-primary championships slated for later this month in Arua city.

According to a statement released by USSA, Stephen Mugulusi, a striker with Kamuli progressive was found guilty of using different names to feature in different tournaments, basing on the evidence extracted from the 2018 students album of St. Henry’s college, Mayuge.

“Mugulusi Stephen’s photo in Kamuli Progressive album is the same as that in St. Henry’s college, Mayuge album. The player is referred to as Stephen Mugulusi in the Kamuli progressive album, whereas the same individual is identified as Michael Kalunda in the St. Henry’s Mayuge album of 2018,” reads the statement in part.

The report further reveals that Mugulusi is a time-barred player aged 25 years, contrary to this year’s maximum age limit of 22 years. “On top of being a time-barred player, Mugulusi sat for his Primary Leaving Exams-PLE in 2013, yet we are clearing players with PLE certificates ranging from 2015 onwards,” reads another paragraph from the report.

While speaking to journalists on Tuesday, USSSA’s Busoga regional committee chairperson Bilali Kakungu stressed that the accused persons have since apologized. The committee had refused to buy the Progressive’s defense that “Stephen Mugulusi,” had just joined their school and they did not have enough time to conduct a comprehensive background check about him before the championship.

Kakungu further stressed that much as this year’s regional post-primary championships were being held in Kamuli district, a resolution has been made to organize the finals in a neutral ground in Iganga district, with all referees and security personnel alike sourced from the same area, so as to maintain sanity on the pitch.

One of the administrators from Kamuli Progressive who spoke on condition of anonymity says that there are efforts of appealing against the ruling, arguing that they were not accorded enough time to defend themselves.

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