FUFA president Moses Magogo has warned that running a football academy in Uganda without official approval is now illegal.
Magogo made the declaration while launching the FUFA Academies League, a new youth competition aimed at creating a more structured pathway for football development in the country.
The federation boss said FUFA has already begun regulating football academies in line with national sports laws, meaning any academy must first be formally recognised before training young players.
“It is no longer free. It is now illegal to operate an academy or a group of children without a licence from the National Council of Sports and you cannot obtain that licence without the approval of FUFA,” he said, referring to the National Council of Sports.
Magogo said the reforms are part of a wider plan to streamline how young talent is discovered, nurtured and guided into professional football.
“The Federation of Uganda Football Associations took a very ambitious project called the Technical Master Plan. It has many pillars and activities but in summary it focuses on the life cycle of a player, starting with talent identification where we are working with FIFA under the Talent Development Scheme,” Magogo said.
He emphasised that identifying talent alone is not enough unless there is a deliberate effort to guide young players through organised elite development structures.
“After identification of talent, which is a very important phase, you go into elite path development. For you to get a top professional we must be intentional in the things we do,” he added.
Magogo noted that research shows the most critical stage for spotting football talent is between the ages of nine and eleven, where players should ideally pass through recognised football schools and licensed academies.