There is a new dawn in Ugandan football – the new Uganda premier league (UPL) format which was passed on Tuesday, September 10th, 2025 at Serena Hotel.
Twelve clubs attended the monumental meeting chaired by the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) President Eng. Moses Magogo whilst Vipers SC president Dr. Lawrence Mulindwa and SC Villa President Omar Mandela stormed out reportedly in protest.
Uganda Peoples defence forces (UPDF), Lugazi FC, Mbarara City and BUL FC were the four clubs that snubbed the meeting.
Uganda premier league CEO Bernard Bainaman confirmed that the new format will be rolled out this upcoming season with modifications as proposed by the clubs and passed in the meeting.
According to Magogo, the new format is part of FUFA’s long term technical masterplan.
“We believe the new format will be competitive, will create a new product which we will take to the market and sell in terms of rights and then the clubs will be able generate more money as a long-term strategy,” noted Magogo, who also revealed that each club will be given Shs80m.
“The duty we have is to teach to popularize the new format to the public which shall do. Managing change is not easy, humans are stuck to change normally. It causes anxiety, uncertainty, you lose advantages here and there and so, at the end of the day, there is a bit of resistance. But I am sure a few years down the road, this story will be told differently,” he added.
Mulindwa, in a statement, had advised FUFA to defer the new changes, try the new format in the women’s lower league as a case study and also avoid attaching conditions to the funding.
The Vipers SC president said that he stormed out of the meeting because FUFA was imposing the new format to the clubs which he could not accept.
“With what I have done and invested in football together with my reputation, I cannot be part of such a meeting where club representatives are falling for peanuts. There is something hidden underneath and that is why there is this speed to pass it. I cannot be part of this,” noted Mulindwa, who was in the company of Mandela.
According to the new format, the league will be played in three rounds. The first will be a one-legged format where the teams play according to the draw at the start of the season.
After 15 matchdays, the top eight will face each other and the bottom half teams also play each other in a home and away format. At the end, there will be a battle for title and relegation by six sides from the two respective groups.
