A breakthrough has been reached today in a meeting between Sports Club Villa officials, Mandela National Stadium management, and UPDF engineering brigade officials, paving the way for Villa to host their CAF Champions League preliminary round game against Commercial Bank of Ethiopia at Namboole Stadium on Saturday, August 17.
The meeting, attended by Sports Minister Peter Ogwang and Villa President Omar Mandela, lasted from 10am to 4pm, culminating in a consensus that the game will proceed as scheduled.
“We have concluded a long meeting where we had several discussions with the management of the stadium. We have come to terms that our game against CBE will be hosted at Namboole on Saturday. The game will kick off at 4pm as earlier scheduled by CAF,” Villa CEO William Nkemba announced after the meeting.
Initially, Villa had received permission to host the game at Namboole, but the UPDF Engineering Brigade, responsible for the stadium’s maintenance, later rescinded the approval, citing unavailability. Sports Minister Peter Ogwang intervened, convening a meeting between the parties to resolve the issue, ultimately leading to today’s agreement.