By Kerementina Natukunda
The FUFA Club Licensing Appeals Committee has relegated Arua Hill Sports Club to the second division league.
The decision follows an unsuccessful appeal by the West Nile-based club against the withdrawal of its club licence by the FUFA Club Licensing Committee for failing to meet licensing regulations.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by Kiiza Decolas Hantali, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of football, the FUFA Club Licensing Appeals Committee upheld the earlier decision of the FUFA Club Licensing Committee and advised the club to prepare for the 2024/25 big league season.
“The FUFA Club Licensing Appeals Committee has noted that Arua Hill Sports Club has continuously violated its obligations under the FUFA Club Licensing Regulations. The decision of the FUFA Club Licensing Committee is therefore upheld,” reads the statement.
Trouble for the Kongolo, who featured in the first round of the 2023-2024 Startimes Uganda Premier League season, started in June last year when the former Club President Eng. Joel Jaffer Aita lost interest in the club and sold it out due to a lack of return on investment.
In the Aftermath, Charles Livingstone Mbabazi, the former head coach of the club came out to declare that he owned 51 per cent of the shares and the club’s Public Relations Officer Adams Lematia owned the other 49 per cent.
But the club’s woes could not turn around which forced several players including the former club captain Gaddafi Wahab to join other clubs. The woes openly played out on December 28,2023, at Masindi stadium after they turned up with eight players and no substitutes to face Kitara FC. They conceded seven goals in a single match.
The second round fixtures for the 2023-2024 Startimes Uganda Premier League season which were released last month, left out Arua Hill SC in a surprising turn of events.
In an earlier interview, Brendah Nyamwiza, the club’s Chief Executive Officer said the club fell short in their earlier submitted documents to the FUFA Club Licensing Committee specifically in the areas of Administration, Finance, Pitch and transfer of ownership.
The club is yet to issue an official statement following the decision by the FUFA Club Licensing Appeals committee.
Arua Hill SC completed the first half of the season rock bottom of the StarTimes–Uganda Premier League Table standings with 5 points in 15 matches. The Club which was formerly called Doves All-Stars was founded in February 2010 by a group of passionate football teachers before it was consequently bought out by Development Infrastructure (DI) in August 2020.
