Football
Five Talking points from Uganda Premier League Match Day 20
Match day 20 of the StarTimes Uganda Premier League highlighted significant title race shift with SC Villa losing 1-0 to Police leaving them far behind.
BUL, NEC and URA continue resurgence, recurring questions over match officials’ decisions and Entebbe UPPC’s lack goals.
Three horse race?
Vipers grinded out another result beating UPDF 2-1 at Bombo. And just like it happened in Kamwenge over the weekend, they had to dig deep to snatch a winner after the army side equalised late on.
With Villa falling to Police and wins for KCCA and Kitara against Express (3-0) and Mbarara City (1-0) respectively, it leaves only three sides firmly in the race.
Vipers lead with 47 points, four and five ahead of Kitara and KCCA respectively.
Villa title ambitions fade
Following three points at Police, Villa are now literally nine points behind leaders Vipers with ten match days left to seal the season.
Twists and turns are expected in the title race but surely, it will take a miracle for the Jogoos to win this year’s title.
Another day, another poor decision from the match officials
For the second consecutive match day, SC Villa were victims of a poor decision from the assistant referee after their legit goal against Police was wrongly ruled out for offside.
Is it a planned agenda against Zeljko’s side or just coincidence?
URA, NEC and BUL momentum
The trio were expected to be challengers for the title but abysmal starts for each respectively saw them fall off very early in the season.
They have however found their groove with NEC and BUL maintaining winning runs and closing in on top four while URA also picked their second win under Hussein Mbalangu and are now out of the relegation talk.
Another clean sheet for Entebbe UPPC but concern over lack of goals continues
Entebbe UPPC have proved a hard nut to crack at the back after yet keeping yet another clean sheet against NEC.
That is the 12th clean sheet in the campaign and lead the charts in this column but it is at the front that they are suffering.
Since the start of the second round, the Printers have scored just once, in a 1-0 win over Mbarara City failing to hit the back of the net in four matches.
If Ambrose Kigozi doesn’t score, they don’t and that must be worrying for Abdallah Mubiru and staff.
The post Five Talking points from Uganda Premier League Match Day 20 appeared first on Kawowo Sports.
Monday July 27, 2026
- Pele stadium, Kigali 4pm [EAT]
Denis Lavagne still maintains that Vipers’ main target is the start of the season in Uganda when his side face Kitara in the Fufa Super Cup on August 23 but remain braced for Gor Mahia clash.
The Cecafa Kagame Cup Group A clash at Pele stadium, Kigali pits two sides who won their opening two matches and a win could secure them a place in the semi-final.
Vipers saw off Djibouti’s Garde Republicaine 3-0 while Gor Mahia humiliated hosts APR 5-0 in their first game.
Lavagne expects a difficult game against the Kenyan giants who will be slight favourites in the tie.
“We are not yet 100-percent but we are here to continue with progress,” started Lavagne.
“We have a difficult game tomorrow (Monday) because Gor Mahia is a good team and won the first game so it is good test for our players.
“But I think the players want to show progress and I expect a better game than the first because despite victory, we didn’t play so well especially after the first half yet I want consistent.
“The target for me remains the August 23 Fufa Super Cup game in Uganda but we hope to win tomorrow and progress to the semi-final.”
K’Ogalo were ruthless against APR and Lavagne says this is the most difficult game in the group.
“We have to work hard and improve many things. Gor Mahia is the most difficult in the group but the players are motivated and we shall do all it takes to win.”
With APR likely to overcome Garde Republicaine in the later game, both Gor Mahia and Vipers need victory to enlighten chances of reaching the last four.
The post Vipers braced for most difficult game against Gor Mahia – Lavagne appeared first on Kawowo Sports.
Uganda Cranes midfielder Baba Al-Hassan has joined Turkish entity Madrin 1969 Spor Club on a two-year deal.
Al Hassan, 26, joins the Turkish side from FCSB in Romania where he spent two seasons, scoring twice in 72 appearances.
We wish Baba Alhassan, who we believe will make significant contributions to our goals with his experience, character and quality, a career full of success under our red-navy blue jersey and hope that he will be beneficial to our community
Mardin 1969 Spor statement
Born in Accra, Ghana; the holding midfielder commenced his career at African Talent Football Academy before joining Real Valladolid in 2019.
He played for Real Valladolid B between 2018 and 2019 before crossed to Romania’s Hermannstadt as a free agent in 2020.
Al Hassan is capped five times for Uganda Cranes. He was part of the 25-man final squad that represented Uganda at the 2025 AFCON in Morocco.
For starters, Mardin Sports Club was founded in 1969 after a merger of Kalespor, Timurspor, Mezopotamyaspor and Genclikspor teams.
The Red and Navy blue colour themed entity hosts their home games at the 5700 seater 21 Kasim Stadium in Mardin.
They won the league title in the 2003/04 season.
The post Uganda Cranes midfielder Al-Hassan moves to Turkey appeared first on Kawowo Sports.
Uganda Cranes international Kenneth Semakula has completed a move to Al Ittihad Alexandria.
The defender-cum-midfielder has been a free agent since leaving Saudi Arabian side Al-Adalah earlier this year.
The former Sports Club Villa player now begins a new chapter in Egypt.
He comes along to Al Ittihad Alexandria with valuable experience from spells in Uganda, Tunisia, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.
After a youthful career at Vipers Sports Club, Semakula has since featured for Busoga United, BUL and Sports Club in Uganda.
He then crossed to Club Africain in Tunisia and played for Al-Arabi (Kuwait) and lately Al-Adalah in Saudi Arabia.
Semakula is capped 23 times for the Uganda Cranes since 2021.
The post Uganda Cranes’ utility player Semakula joins Egyptian giants Al Ittihad Alexandria appeared first on Kawowo Sports.
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