By Vicent Kakooza,

Vipers Soccer Club has officially issued a statement regarding the withdrawal of licences of four of its players by FUFA.

Yesterday (Monday) FUFA announced that it had provisionally withdrawn the licences because the said players had failed to adhere to national team call up.

According to FUFA, the action by the players and or the club contravened the provisions of the FUFA Regulations on Status and transfer of players, article 37 (1).

FUFA’s directed that the four players be suspended for two league games against KCCA FC (today) and SC Villa Jogoo. However Vipers says the communication reached the club after the coach had already named his final 18 man squad and had even entered residential camp in Buikwe, the match venue.

Therefore,    the club has promised to pursue redress to enable the indicted four players be cleared for today’s league game.

The statement in Full:

We received a communication from FUFA on Monday 21/09/2015, 15:53hrs under the subject “Provisional Withdraw of your players’ licenses”.

The letter asserts that four players i.e. Ismail Watenga, Deus Bukenya, Alitho James and Keziron Kizito contravened FUFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players article 37(2) and 39(3) and as such are ineligible for the next two league games i.e. M#35 and M#46 against KCCA FC and SC Villa respectively.

This came at a time when the final 18 man squad for the match had been named and the entire team in a residential camp at Buikwe ahead of Tuesday league game against KCCA FC.

Vipers SC would like to take this opportunity to inform all stakeholders of the club’s position below in the event of this regrettable state of affairs;

1. The club shall honour league matches M#35 Vipers vs KCCA and M#46 SC Villa vs Vipers SC as scheduled.

2. The club shall seek interpretation of the rules and respective articles to fully comprehend the contravention highlighted.

3. The club shall appeal against the decision above within the prevailing football governing structures and shall stand by the said players to uphold their rights and the club’s interests

4. In the meantime, the club is pursuing redress to enable the indicted four players be cleared for today’s league game.

We look forward to an amicable and logical conclusion to this matter.

Thank you all for your understanding and support.

Collins Okinyo

Ex- CAF Media Expert. An expert on African football with over 15 years experience ,always with an ear to the ground with indepth knowledge of the game. I have worked for top publications including 7 years at www.supersport.com until i founded www.soka25east.com to quench the thirst of football lovers across the continent. I have trained young upcoming journalists who are now a voice in African football.I have covered World Cup,AFCON,CHAN,Champions League,Confederations Cup,Cecafa,Cosafa,Wafu and many other football tournaments across the World. Founder Football Africa Arena(FAA),Founder www.afrisportdigital.com