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FUFA has revealed that Uganda is already looking for alternative venues, and are considering hosting their qualifiers from Zambia.
Hope is not completely lost on the possibility of the Uganda Cranes hosting their games within the boundaries of Uganda.
The latest stadium homologation by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) released in January, locked out all stadiums located within Uganda, with over 20 other nations affected as well.
As Uganda tries to find a viable option ahead of the resumption of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in March, there is a tight window of hope if they can convince CAF’s licensing committee.
“If a stadium in your country is not on the list and your association wishes to obtain its approval for the group stage qualifiers of the AFCON, a complete pre-inspection of the stadium must be carried out and the report sent to CAF no later than February 10, 2023,” a CAF statement said.
“The required stadium pre-inspection report must be completed by your association's club licensing manager and accompanied by the CAF checklist, high-quality photos and videos of each area of the stadium," the statement added.
Most of the primary stadium requirements are available at St. Mary’s Stadium in Kitende, with the stadium’s astroturf playing surface ratified up to at least 2025.
Home club Vipers SC are also currently undertaking further redevelopment at the stadium like the installation of floodlights, while they have completed the installation of more seats.
However, the major stumbling block for the stadium remains the lack of proper access roads which any further requests from Uganda to CAF should satisfy as soon as possible.
"If the stadium pre-inspection report is not completed or if the quality of the report is not satisfactory, CAF will automatically exclude the stadium from hosting the matches,” CAF explained.
“Based on the pre-inspection report of the stadium, a decision will be taken by CAF about the approval of the stadium.”
“CAF's decision is made based on the state of the stadium and the level of compliance reported at the time of inspection while noting that CAF will not grant additional time for work at the stage to be concluded,” the statement said.
FUFA has revealed that Uganda is already looking for alternative venues, and are considering hosting their qualifiers from Zambia.
Neighbour Tanzania’s Benjamin Mkapa stadium is also fully homologated but is not being considered because they are Ugandan opponents in the qualifiers group.
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