Fufa President, Moses Magogo has Friday rewarded each player of Lady Doves FC with USD100 after their advancement into the semifinals of the CAF Women Champions League CECAFA Qualifiers happening in Nairobi, Kenya.
Lady Doves are representing Uganda in the tournament.
Magogo travelled to Kenya to morale boost the team ahead of their final group encounter against Burundi’s PVP FC. Lady Doves won the Burundians with 3-0, thanks to goals from Nakacwa Spencer, Norah Alupo, and Fazila Ikwaput.
Eight clubs are participating and pit in two groups A and B. Coach Fred Musiime’s women are in Group A alongside PVP (Burundi), FAD (Djibouti) and Simba Queens (Tanzania).
The Ugandan side opened the tournament with a thrilling 5-0 win over FAD followed by a barren draw with Tanzania’s Simba Queens. Both at 7 points, Lady Doves and Simba Queens have advanced to the semifinal from group A.
Now, according to Magogo, the team and its leadership have not only made Uganda proud but also FUFA for putting a spectacular performance so far in the ongoing tournament.
“As Ugandans we are proud and as FUFA, we are very proud of our efforts with women football. It is our objective to make sure that we help women football develop in our country. Lady Doves are the champions of the FUFA women superleague and that is the reason they are here after qualifying to represent us and they have done very well, being champions in Uganda and also coming here to get out of the group stages,” said Magogo, moments after Lady Doves game on Friday.
“Our efforts are to encourage club football not only for men but also for women. At this level of getting out of the group stages as a federation, every person on the contingent qualifies to get 100 dollars,” he added.
The FUFA President added that should the team advance to the semifinal and qualify for the final, everybody on the continent will get 300 dollars. He said USD500 await each player should they win the championship.
This, he says, is an effort of encouraging and supporting the people who are in charge of the team.
“We thank the technical team and the management for the investment they are making. We are very proud and should the team become the champions, definitely FUFA takes over the travel costs, the way we are doing it for men’s football so the team will go and represent us very well. We believe that we are in the right direction,” noted Magogo.
The tournament is running on a group and knockout format. The winner will gain one automatic qualification slot to the CAF Women Champions League, to be played in Egypt later this year.