On Tuesday, it was confirmed that the 2025/26 Uganda Premier League season will be played in a three round format.
The development came after a meeting that was chaired by FUFA President Eng.Moses Magogo at Kampala Serena Hotel.
In the meeting 12 clubs attended while Vipers SC President Dr. Lawrence Mulindwa, SC Villa President Omar Mandela and NEC FC chairman Brian Buhanda stormed out of the meeting.
Lugazi FC, Mbarara City, BUL FC and UPDF FC were the four clubs that didn’t attend the meeting that decided the fate of Ugandan top-flight football on Tuesday.
After the meeting, Dr. Mulindwa (Vipers) told journalists that club heads had been threatened and blackmailed with their protest against the new league format being portrayed as opposition-fueled.
“The matter has been politicized with club heads threatened, so 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.” Said Mulindwa.
Mulindwa, Mandela and Buhanda stormed out of the meeting
Magogo revealed that he will engage with the three clubs in the bid to reach an agreement
“We shall continue engaging these clubs. They are our members and signature teams, and we want them to buy into this project. They are an important part of our long-term plan, so the dialogue will go on. It is not true that they were coerced; we simply issued a circular, and some clubs chose to respond.”
Magogo also believes the new format will bring more competition in the league and clubs will generate more money
“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 to generate more money as a long-term strategy.” Stated Magogo
“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.
Explanation of the new league format
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.
Meanwhile, the new league campaign is scheduled to kickoff on September, 26th 2025.
