David GOMBE
The Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) has unveiled the new Uganda Premier League format.
FUFA recently had a consultative meeting with all the 16 UPL clubs in the bid of improving the competition both on and off the pitch.
During the meeting, the clubs were told that FUFA Executive Committee was to create a new playing format for the topflight division ahead of the 2025/26 season.
On Wednesday, FUFA through its CEO Edgar Watson unveiled the new league format in a circular that explains all the new changes in the Uganda Premier League.
The New Uganda Premier League Format
The 1st Division League (Uganda Premier League) shall comprise of a maximum of 16 Teams. This is the same number of teams that took part in the 2024/25 season.
The 1st Division League shall be played over a season in three (3) rounds
Round One
All the teams shall play a one-leg league format to determine the ranking of positions.
•There shall be a draw conducted to determine which teams play against the others at home and away in Round 1
•The top 8 ranked teams at the end of Round 1 shall qualify for Group 1 at Round 2.
•The bottom 8 teams at the end of Round-1 shall qualify for Group 2 at Round 2.
Round Two
Group 1 (8 Teams) and Group 2 (8 Teams) shall play a full league format on a basis of home and away.
The top 6 ranked teams of Group 1 shall qualify for Round 3 to play in Group 3 while the bottom 2 teams shall end the season in positions 7 and 8 of the season respectively.
The bottom 6 ranked teams of Group 2 shall qualify for Round 3 to play in Group 4 while the top 2 ranked teams shall end the season in positions 9 and 10 of the season
respectively.
Round Three
•All the teams in Group 3 shall play a one-leg league format to determine the ranking of positions. For each pair of matches, the team that played home in Round 1 shall now
play away while the team that played away in Round1 shall now play home for parity.
•The ranking of teams at the end of Round-3 for Group-3 shall take positions 1-6 of the competition for the season.
All the teams in Group 4 shall play a one-leg league format to determine the ranking of
positions.
•The ranking of teams at the end of Round 3 for Group 4 shall take positions 11 downwards of the competition for the season.
Champions and Relegation
•The team ranked top of Group 3 at the end of Round 3 shall be declared the Champions of the Season.
The top 3 teams ranked 11, 12 and 13 at the end of Round 3 shall remain sportingly eligible to be licensed for the 2026/7 Season for the 1st Division League.
•The team ranked 14th at the end of Round 3 shall play on a home and away basis against the 3rd ranked team from the 2025/6 2nd Division League. The team that wins this fixture over the two (2) legs shall sportingly be eligible to be licensed for the 2026/7 Season for the 1st Division League while the team that loses this fixture over the two (2) legs shall sportingly be eligible to be licensed for the 2026/7 Season for the 2nd Division League. In other words, there will be a promotional/relegation playoff.
Champions and Relegation
The team ranked top of Group 3 at the end of Round 3 shall be declared the Champions of the Season.
The top 3 teams ranked 11, 12 and 13 at the end of Round 3 shall remain sportingly eligible to be licensed for the 2026/7 Season for the 1st Division League.
The team ranked 14th at the end of Round 3 shall play on a home and away basis against the 3rd ranked team from the 2025/6 2nd Division League. The team that wins this fixture over the two (2) legs shall sportingly be eligible to be licensed for the 2026/7 Season for the 1st Division League while the team that loses this fixture over the two (2) legs shall sportingly be eligible to be licensed for the 2026/7 Season for the 2nd Division League. In other words, there will be a promotional/relegation playoff.
PLAYERS REGISTRATION FOR UGANDA PREMIER LEAGUE
Only players whose contracts with their respective clubs have two (2) or more years remaining shall be eligible to be licensed for the 2025/6 1st Division League. The exception to this provision shall only be for the player whose 31st birthday shall happen during the 2025/6 Season.
All the other provisions of player registration shall remain in force until changed.
Data
It will be obligatory that each club in the Uganda Premier League shares sporting and business data after every specified period. According to FUFA, Corrective Measures shall be applied for failure to comply with this provision and FUFA may develop web-based applications to collect this data.
Sporting Data
At the end of each Uganda Premier League match, each club shall be required to submit FORM (F601) that shall specify the sporting data of the match as recorded by the club. This submission shall not be more than 48 hours after the match.
Each club playing in the 1st division league shall be required to use the Catapult Technology during the match. The referee shall require that the vests are utilised. In
event of failure, the referee will report on the matter.
Business Data
At the end of each 1st division league match, each club shall be required to submit FORM (F605) that shall specify the business data of the match as recorded by the club.
The business data among others shall include the Match Day Attendances, Revenues
Generated from Match Day Attendances. This submission shall not be more than 48 hours after the match.
FIXTURES
Uganda Premier League matches shall be played as single-header or double header fixtures.
Double Header Fixture shall mean when matches of 2 UPL Clubs are hosted in one venue with 2-3 hours between the kick-off times of both matches.
The UPL will determine which matches may be played as Double-Headers.
The UPL may change the venue of a match in order to organise a Double-Header.
UPL has exclusive decisions on which fixtures shall be single-headers or double headers.
Matches for Double Header will be determined and communicated with the release of the fixture. UPL may within a period of 14 days combine single-header fixtures into Double Header Fixtures and vice versa
Prize Monies
FUFA shall provide 500m UGX as Prize Monies for the 1st Division League shared as follows:
The 2,000,000 UGX shall be for the club that wins the play-off for relegation and promotion.
Gate Collections
Gross takings of the match shall be declared. Any failure to comply or falsification of the information submitted shall cause application of corrective measures by the FUFA Judicial Commission.
There shall be a fixed amount to be spent as operations costs for a very UPL match.
For the single header fixtures, the home club shall apply to UPL for amount to be considered for the operations costs. UPL will confirm or amend the proposed amount and will communicate the final amount to be considered for operations costs.
For the double header fixtures, UPL shall determine and issue the amount to be considered for the operations costs.
When the mandatory taxes and operations costs have been deducted, the remaining amount shall be referred to as the Sharable Revenue.
For single header fixtures, the shareable revenues shall be as follows:
Home Team – 85%
UPL – 5%
FUFA – 5%
Winner – 5%
For double header fixtures, the shared revenues shall be as follows:
Home Team-1 – 35%
Home Team-2 – 35%
Away Team-1 – 5%
Away Team-2 – 5%
UPL – 5%
FUFA – 5%
Winner-1 – 5%
Winner-2 – 5%
In case of a draw, the winner percentage is reverted to the home team.
