By 
Just 3 months ago, SC Villa fans put up a record attendance at the MTN Omondi Stadium, the numbers were too overwhelming that authorities opened up an extra wing previously under construction to allow more fans in, many of these flocked the pitch after the final whistle when a 2-0 win ensured Villa’s historical 17th league triumph and the first in 20years.
These numbers were no where to be seen as Villa played it’s first continental game after nearly a decade as they lost 1-2 against Central Bank of Ethiopia(CBE FC) on Saturday infront of an empty Namboole stadium, so empty that the two goalkeepers of either team could have casually held a conversation! But how did Villa get to this?
Frustrated Ali Kayongo after SC Villa missed a chance during the game in Namboole.
Six days before this game, Villa shocked their fans with what many considered to be ‘crazy’ ticket prices; 50,000Ush ordinary and 100,000Ush made this the most expensive game in Uganda history;
With normal ticket prices range between (10,000-25,000Ush) ordinary, what inspired such prices wasn’t made clear by the officials but fans took to social media to quickly express their discomfort with these charges for a match they’d waited for nearly a decade to experience.
“I’m an ardent supporter with a stable income but I find that 50k for a preliminary game farfetched.” said one of the fans and many others reminding the club that even for National team games, the highest they pay is less than half of what Villa is asking.
But do Ugandans pay this much?
Opnion: SCÂ Villa’s 50,000 Ush. might have been a big ask but considering that sport partly shares an audience with the entertainment industry in the country.
Ugandans are willing to part with even thrice more figures than this for their fun like they always fill up music concerts, case in point the Davido timeless concert in March was a sell out even when the cheapest ticked went for 150,000Ugsh.
But these are global stars and a music show lasts for a lot longer than football’s 90minutes although when global football stars like Egypt’s Mo Salah came to Namboole, fans were charged 25,000Ugs to watch him live.
The intention could have been collecting reasonable sums to help out with the team’s expensive continental ventures, but in the quest for more, Villa ended up with none!
Perhaps if football wishes to collect that much from fans, it should be willing to offer a lot more than that in terms of activities and a reasonable budget for game adverting to inform people about the significance of the event, music shows have done it and succeeded, maybe it’s high time football interested itself in massive adverting extra fan beyond just the green-People consume way too much football so they can afford to miss any game, the options are many.
Perharps Villa should have put it’s fans into consideration, a decade they endured without continental football and 20years of no league title, they should have been prioritized to be a part of this memorable event, subsidized tickets to allow fans fill up Namboole perharps would have even had an impact on the final result, players knowing they have a crowd backing them, but Villa chose otherwise!
