Monday, December 3, 2012 75 New Vision SPORTNew Vision

OPINION BY SABIITI MUWANGA DEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR Poor refereeing spoilt UBU’s sumptuous menu

ast Friday at Lugogo’s MTN Arena, it was supposed to be the rise of profes- sional boxing in . LAnd indeed fans turned up in big Namboole stadium management hopes to procure modern fire fighting equipment yet the pitch gets water-logged during rainy seasons numbers to witness Zebra ‘Mando’ Sennyange battle for the national super middleweight title with Haruna ‘Banabana’ Ddiba. There were also several undercards before the main bout. I SAY SO But much as the fans exercised patience into James Bakama: the wee hours of Saturday, many left disap- pointed when the highly-billed encounter ended prematurely. CECAFA’s game can be raised Out of the blue someone stepped into the vents in the first week of the 36th bigger competition than CECAFA but the ring midway the fight and declared it can- Tusker CECAFA Challenge Cup numbers it attracts for its final tournament celled. Another one came later to declare it a tournament have not been that have also remained unimpressive because technical draw. Epleasing. of absence of the big names. Lights went off for almost 15 minutes on You only have to remember the days when The chaos that ensued after left Ddiba’s the opening day, turn up has been low while each CEACAFA country used to field its top trainer bleeding profusely after he was hit on the rainy season has also not favoured the team in the Challenge Cup, to know the ef- the head with a flying object. Sennyange was organisers. fect of stars. That Confederation of African Football Improved cash prizes and a calendar only restrained from attacking the official who president Issa Hayatou was in attendance aligned to the FIFA international schedule, declared a technical draw, and fans had to when the stadium plunged into almost to- are some of the ways of attracting the best. flee into the darkness outside for dear life. tal darkness, was not a good statement for Organisers could also consider making the All this happened despite the fact that the a country with plans of hosting the competition bi-ennial. There is a tendency Cup of Nations. of quality being eroded by an annual sched- boxers drew their support from security forces But amidst all this, one thing that has re- ule. that were also present in abundance, includ- mained exciting, is the football. Goals are The revised format could further be en- ing the Kampala Metropolitan Police com- being scored in loads. New talents are also riched with qualifiers ie dedicate one year mander Andrew Kaweesi. being unveiled in bulk. to home-and-away matches sieving teams It was thrilling to see Saidi Kyeyune, Nich- from say 12 to eight. But all this could have been avoided with olas Wadada sparkle on their debut. John With such a system even punch bags So- a competent technical staff. Right from the Raphael Bocco and Burundi’s Seleman Ndi- malia would thrive to prepare contrary to undercards, referees failed to control proceed- kumana also sparkled. the current arrangement that accommo- ings in the ring. In one fight, a boxer went But the action can in future competitions dates mediocrity. get even much better. One way of boosting The qualifiers if well positioned on the into comma for several minutes yet that bout standards is by attracting the big names. FIFA calendar, would also serve as build-ups would have been stopped much earlier. Crowds are low in the on-going competi- for bigger competitions. The Uganda Boxing Union must be com- tion because the likes McDonald Mariga, I hope someone in the CECAFA secretariat Victor Mugabe, Geoffrey Massa, Denis On- reads this piece. mended for their efforts to revive the sport. yango, Tony Mawejje, Meddie Kagere and It is not too late to make the CECAFA However they must handle the technical as- Olivier Karekezi are missing. Tusker Challenge Cup one of the most lu- pect by training referees ahead of such fights. A classic example is Africa’s competition crative and best organised regional compe- We are looking forward to another encounter. for locally based players CHAN. It is a much titions on the continent. YOURLETTERS Send your correspondence to: The Letters Editor, The New Vision, P.O. Box 9815, Kampala; or sports@ newvision.co.ug; or deliver directly to the newspaper’s headquarters on Plot 19/21 First Street, Industrial Area, Kampala Our Cranes hairstyle! Namboole pitch is a EDITOR - I am incensed about the hairstyle of our Cranes players. As a medical student, there was a patient at Mulago who our lecturer, dur- disgrace to Mandela ing a ward round, classified as unkempt EDITOR - I’m very disappointed with the state because of his dreadlocks. That doctor related of , Namboole. When dreadlocks to a number of unpleasant habits. I complained about the surface, we have seen our footballers with similar hair and I thought they were crazy. The poor state of the wonder whether this doctor wouldn’t call them pitch has been exposed by the CECAFA Cup. unkempt! A team is given a uniform for them to Let us stop blaming the rain. Rain just becomes look neat, and I admire the Kenyan team who part of the game. Management should overhaul have the same hair style: clean heads. Coach and improve the drainage. Only then shall we The year was 2008....Lukanga Boxing Club wins National Open trophy appears very smart in suits. give statesman Nelson Mandela the honour he Our boys too must have a descent hair style. deserves. No wonder we now refer to this stadium From the Past They all should appear in weaves, plaits, dread- as Namboole instead of Mandela!. locks or clean heads. That is what makes a James Okiria, Zebra Ssenyange (left) then Lukanga Boxing trophy from Cuban coach Rodolfo Gonzalez. team. William Mungadi, BUGOLOOBI Club captain, receives the National Open Sennyange has since turned professional TORORO