Mutebi explains why KCCA FC had fewer players for Mbarara City clash

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA FC) head coach Mike Mutebi has explained why they had fewer players for their Ugandan Premier League (UPL) tie against Mbarara City.

The league champions had only 16 players, which is against the regulations which require a team to have 18 players during a matchday. Mutebi admitted the majority of his players failed to meet the requirements of licensing regulations by the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (Fufa).

“It was a licensing problem. Fufa is very strict with the National Identity Cards. Most of them had passports but did not have national IDs whereas some are still on the sidelines due to injuries, the main reason as to why we had a limited team is because of the licensing procedure,” Mutebi told Kawowo Sports.

Charles Lukwago, Musa Ramathan, Herbert Achai, Samuel Kato, John Revita, Gift Ali, Erisa Ssekisambu, Muzamir Mutyaba, Mike Mutyaba, Joseph Kafumbe, Nicholas Kasozi Jamil Maliyamungu, Hassan Musana, Filbert Obenchan, John Odumegwu and Peter Magambo were the only players Mutebi had for the tie.

KCCA defeated the Ankole Lions 1-0 on Wednesday in what is their first-ever victory in six attempts against the Mbarara club.

Meanwhile, Mbarara City coach Brian Ssenyondo explained why his players conceded the only goal in Lugogo.

“I must say we put up a fight against KCCA but we lost the game because the players are still unfit. We resumed training a bit late, on 27th December 2019 and the fitness levels of the players are still down,” Ssenyondo stated.

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“This basically explains the variation in performance from having a very good first half to a poor display in the second stanza.

“We thought the league would return around February and you know the state of our clubs, you can’t have the players training when the league is not on. So, I will say, [we] were caught off guard and had to adjust.”

The win helped KCCA go second with 36 points.