Uganda’s most successfull Club SC Villa is finally back to winning ways of the Premier League title after a 20-year wait.

Under the guidance of Serbian coach Dusan Stojanovic, SC Villa stopped NEC FC 2-0 in a crucial match to clinch the 2023/2024 Uganda Premier League title on Saturday at the MTN Omondi Stadium, Lugogo.

After a tense goalless first half which kept the SC Villa fans on their toes, the blues finally got two goals through Charles Lwanga and Hakim Kiwanuka in the second half. The win ensured SC Villa finished with 57 points to win their record 17th League title.

Another Serbian Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic who also won several trophies with SC Villa several years ago was also in the Stadium to witness history being made.

” I thank all the players for the hard work through out the season that has enabled us win the title. I also thank all members of the technical staff and management, ” said a happy SC Villa coach Stojanovic.

Bidco FC who also beat Busoga FC 3-0 in their last match finished second with 56 points, while Vipers SC who brushed aside Mbarara United 4-1 finished third also with 56 points.

Kenneth Ssemakula, the SC Villa captain thanked all his teammates for giving their best through out the season. ” We need to continue to work hard to be able to win more trophies,” added the happy captain.

SC Villa will now represent Uganda in the 2024 CECAFA Kagame Cup to take place in Tanzania in July and later the 2024/2025 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.

The national team of Sudan defeated Tanzania 2-1 in an international friendly match played last evening in Saudi Arabia.

Aldhayib Abdirizak gave the Sudan team the lead after 11 minutes at the King Fahad Stadium. Issa Vitalis made it 2-0 for Sudan after 27 minutes.

But after the break, the youthful Tanzanian side led by Belgian based professional Kelvin John pushed forward in search of goals. Ahmad Ibrahim Ahmada Hilika pulled out back for Taifa Stars after 80 minutes.

Kwasi Appiah, the Sudan head coach said that he was happy with the opportunity to have the friendly match to help him test the players.

Taifa Stars acting coach Hemed Morocco said his players made some mistakes early in the game, but improved later after recess.

The second friendly match played between the two teams on May 19th ended 1-1.

The two teams are using the friendly matches to prepare ahead of the matches next month for the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers. Sudan are placed second in Group B with 4 points, while Tanzania are fourth in Group E with three points in the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers.

The CECAFA Kagame Cup 2024 will take place in Tanzania.

The regional tournament organised under the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) will take place from July 20th to 4th August, 2024.

John Auka Gecheo, the CECAFA Executive Director has confirmed that some guest sides will take part in the tournament which will return this year after it was last held in 2021.

“We are glad that this tournament will be returning after two years to provide a brilliant preseason platform for the teams to prepare better before the start of the 2024/2025 CAF Champions League, CAF Confederations Cup and the different Leagues back home,” dded  Gecheo.

He explained that besides the respective Premier League champions from the 12 Members Associations including Zanzibar, CECAFA will also invite some other teams to spice up the tournament.

Uganda’s Express FC beat guest side Nyasa Big Bullets from Malawi 1-0 in the final when the tournament was last held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 2021. Tanzania’s Simba SC have lifted the CECAFA Kagame Cup a record six times, while Young Africans SC (Tanzania) and Tusker FC (Kenya) five times each. The teams that have lifted the title three times each include; APR FC (Rwanda), Al Merriekh (Sudan), SC Villa (Uganda) and Kenya’s Gor Mahia FC.

Young Africans SC have retained the Tanzania Premier League title.

Coach Miguel Gamondi’s team brushed a side Mtibwa FC 3-1 in a League match played on Monday at the Manungu Complex in Morogoro to claim the 2023/2024 title.

Charles Ilanfya gave the home side a 1-0 first half lead, but Young Africans SC fought back after recess to score three.

Goals by Kennedy Musonda, an own goal by Nasry Kombo and Clement Nzie were enough to see Young Africans SC collect vital three points.

The win sent Young Africans SC to 71 points with three more matches to play, while Azam FC are second on 60 points and Simba SC third with 57 points.

” I want to thank the players for the hard work. Playing against Mtibwa FC was not an easy match, but am glad the players worked hard and won. It has been a very busy season of hard work and am grateful to the players and management, ” said Gamondi.

The Argentine made it clear that Young Africans SC has what it takes to win several titles and now they will complete the League and other tournaments locally before starting to plan well for next season.

Gamondi also guided Young Africans SC to the quarter final stage of the 2023/2024 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League where they lost 3-2 in penalties to Mamelodi Sundowns FC of South Africa.