After a seven-week break, the StarTimes Uganda Premier League is set to resume amid excitement from football lovers. The league had paused to allow the national team to prepare for CHAN.
According to the fixture, the first round resumes with the reigning champions SC Vipers, who stand with 7 points on the table and 2 matches behind the table leader, will host Myda FC at St. Marys Stadium Kitende which had 1 point from 4 games.
The match which will kick off at 3pm on Saturday February 6, is an opportunity for Vipers to elevate their position on the table to solidify a firm grip of this seasons tittle.
On Tuesday February 9, Vipers will be hosted by Express FC at Wankulukuku Stadium, which match will see all the clubs have a total of 5 match fixture. It should be noted that these two matches had to be postponed to pave way for Vipers engagements in CAF champions League.
Other fixture games will resume on February 12. The UPL CEO Mr. Bernard Bainamani said that the league shall have to go a marathon races due to the time lost in order to complete the league within FUFA’s activity Calendar for 2020/21 season.
The league started late specifically on December 3, 2020 as compared to usual kick off which is always the first week of September.
“This means we lost three months. This implies we shall have a short break of may be a week in between first and second round or even no break in the circumstances.”
He added that they expect a very competitive season judging from the results of the first five match days so far played. UPDF FC were table leaders before the CHAN break. This is a testimony that the competition will be stiff.
UPDF FC bounced back to the SUPL this season and they have already made a statement of intent.
However, football fans should remember that even as the games resume, there is need to abide by the SOPs as set up by Ministry of Health in regards to sports activities.
To this effect, StarTimes has pledged to televise more live games than the previous seasons to enable Ugandans to follow the action.
The Director Branding and Marketing at StarTimes Uganda, Isma Lule affirmed that the games are available on Sanyuka TV under StarTimes Nova bouquet at an affordable price of 12,000/- a month for those using Antenna decoder, for those using Satellite decoder Nova Bouquet monthly subscription goes for only 13,500/.
It is worth noting that FUFA has been carrying out COVID-19 testing for players, coaches, referees and other essential staff which enabled the league to kick off.