The State Minister for Sports, Peter Ogwang, has said the management of KCCA Football Club declined to allow upgrades at Philip Omondi Stadium that would have enabled the facility to qualify as a training venue for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).
Ogwang made the remarks on Wednesday while appearing before the Parliamentary Budget Committee alongside officials from the National Council of Sports (NCS), the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (Fufa) and the Ministry of Sports.
He explained that Philip Omondi Stadium had initially been identified as one of the potential training grounds for Afcon before guidance from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) altered the plans.
“At the first phase of identifying training pitches for Afcon, Philip Omondi Stadium was among those we had selected,” Ogwang said.
“However, after further guidance from Caf, it was made clear that training facilities must have natural grass to qualify.”
Ogwang said the government subsequently engaged KCCA management to explore upgrading the stadium to meet Caf standards, but the club declined to allow the installation of a natural grass pitch.
“We had an engagement with the management of KCCA Football Club, but they were not ready to allow Philip Omondi Stadium to be upgraded to have natural grass pitches,” he said.
“As government, we had to look for alternative venues that fit within the guidance given by the Confederation of African Football.”
He told MPs that Philip Omondi Stadium has since been dropped from the list of training facilities earmarked for Afcon-related works, noting that funds have already been released for other approved venues.
“For purposes of training facilities, I want to confirm to honourable members that as of now, they are not among the pitches we are going to undertake works on,” Ogwang said.
The minister, however, urged Parliament to continue supporting KCCA as a sports institution, particularly through budget allocations aimed at completing works at Philip Omondi Stadium.
“It is important that we support the budget of KCCA as a sports organisation so that money is appropriated for the specific purpose of completing works at Philip Omondi Stadium as part of KCCA FC,” he added.
Uganda is currently developing several high-standard training grounds ahead of AFCON 2027 to meet CAF requirements, with construction expected to be completed within the year.
Key facilities are largely linked to match venues such as Hoima City Stadium and the Akii-Bua Olympic Stadium in Lira City.
Other identified training grounds include facilities at Gulu University, Lira University, Pece Stadium, Kyambogo University, Makerere University and Fufa Kadiba.
Earlier this month, the government signed memorandums of agreement with Gulu and Lira universities for the construction of training grounds.
The agreements were signed by the National Council of Sports, represented by board chairman Ambrose Tashobya and general secretary Bernard Patrick Ogwel.
Under Caf regulations, host stadiums for major continental tournaments are required to have at least four training grounds attached to each match venue.