FUFA Big League side Kyetume FC players have reportedly gone a couple of months without pay.
According to sources from Mukono where the club is based, most, if not all of the players haven’t received a penny in monthly remuneration since the start of the 2023/24 season.
Relatively, the players haven’t been receiving any matchday allowances whether they lose, draw or win.
“The few players who are still with the team are just the ones who are sacrificing for the club, and love of the game,” the source added before further divulging;
“These guys have been surviving on the daily ten thousand shillings (shs10,000) training allowance from which they also have to transport themselves to and from training, plus feeding!”
“It’s hard for a player to be committed to the team if there’s no money, because the players have responsibilities too, they have families, they pay rent, they pay school fees and all that needs money.”
In Kyetume’s last match, in which they lost 1-0 to Kaaro Karungi, players blamed it on poor preparation, having had to travel overnight, reaching Ibanda so tired at 3 in the morning, and having to get ready for a game that same day at 4:00PM.
“We are still with the team because we just want to finish the games and look elsewhere when the new season starts. You can’t transfer to another team now, you know? And at the end of every season, every club wants a player who has been active,” one player who preferred anonymity revealed.
Apparently, the Monday training session couldn’t go on as the players didn’t show up, expressing dissatisfaction, and others with the will to train, but without means to.
“I’d have gone to train if I had transport, but I didn’t have transport so I didn’t go,” another player revealed to this website.
Hopefully, they’ll show up at Nakisunga Ssaza Ground on Sunday, April 14 for their league match against Lugazi.
Otherwise, if at all things get more complex, they might unfortunately go the Ndejje University or Arua Hill ways – giving in and giving up!
Apparently, Ndejje University’s Big League Football Club was dissolved by management citing lack of funds to facilitate the team.
Meanwhile, Arua Hill were demoted from the Uganda Premier League to the second division after failing to meet licensing requirements.
Unlike Arua Hill, atleast Kyetume have their own ‘stadium’ and players on their system. UPL qualification is too far away from this term, but they can still beat relegation, if they can close the 5-gap between them and safety.
At the moment, the demotivated players have on average picked less than a point per game, languishing in the relegation zone, with just 19 points from 21 games.
12th of 15 teams, the Mukono based side is only above fellow struggling sides Jinja North (18), Young Elephants (12) and dissolved Ndejje University (10).
Kyetume have managed just four wins, drawn seven times and lost a worrying ten times so far, with just six games left before the end of the season.
