The Top 10: Sex scandals that rocked local sport
- Written by Observer Media Ltd
Sex and sport have been something of intimate bedfellows. The Observer’s sports desk lists the sex scandals that have rocked the sports fraternity in years gone by.
1. She Cranes players fight for man
In 1998, The Crusader’s Kenneth Matovu (RIP) broke a story that stunned the local footballing fraternity. At the time, the national women’s football team - otherwise known as She Cranes - were prepping for an African Nations Cup qualifier.
On the exterior, everything seemed to be fine. But when Matovu peered closer, he discovered that there were lots of tensions in the She Cranes’ camp. Apparently, She Cranes players were fighting for a man. The identity of the man wasn’t clear, but it was certain that he was part of the She Cranes’ backroom staff.
An inquest into the scandal was commissioned by the National Council of Sports. At the end of the probe, She Cranes’ coach Paul Ssali was exonerated. The team manager, Issa Kyambadde (RIP) wasn’t that lucky. The report from the probe made it explicit that Kyambadde wasn’t allowed to go within a foothold of the She Cranes players - leaving nothing to the imagination of many.
2. Dan Wagaluka’s Eritrean escapade
Following a dour 1-0 home win over the then Eritrean champions, SC Villa upped the ante to secure an impressive 1-2 win in the return leg of a 2005 CAF Champions League encounter. Villa players decided to celebrate their victory by sampling the nightlife Asmara had to offer.
Whilst most of the players stuck to punctuating their dance with the occasional swig of an alcoholic beverage, Dan Wagaluka overstepped the line. The midget winger allegedly had sexual relations with an Eritrean prostitute whom he refused to pay.
Wagaluka’s team-mates couldn’t stop laughing the morning after when the aforesaid prostitute came mouthing a description (a short dark man - in her words) of Wagaluka as she sought to have a bill cleared.
3. Kyakutema and Acii’s catfight
It’s a stereotype that has shown no signs of fading away just yet: that of women and catfights. The two seem to get along quite well as was the case back in 1988. The Africa Athletics Championships were back then used to select people who would participate in the Olympics.
When Faridah Kyakutema, Oliver Acii and Co. won all and sundry in the 4 by 400m relay in the 1988 version of the Africa Athletics Championships in Algeria, many Ugandans rubbed their hands in anticipatory relish. During her free time in Algeria, Kyakutema had managed to work up an intimate bond with a Nigerian male athlete.
So when the Nigerian athlete - like Uganda’s 4 by 400m relay team - qualified for the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, Kyakutema expected their chemistry to be aroused. However, the Nigerian opted to date Acii in Seoul. This triggered a catfight between Kyakutema and Acii. Before the race, Kyakutema slapped Acii.
Predictably, Acii retaliated and a fight ensued. Sadly, this bad blood spilled over to the track with Kyakutema refusing to take part in the 4 by 400m relay. This forced Uganda to pull out yet many reckoned that a medal was well and truly within their grasp. When Kyakutema returned home, she was slapped with a two-year ban. Frustrated, she decided to retire even before her ban elapsed.
4. Chris Mubiru’s infamous massage
Having worked his socks off in the first of two training sessions that then national team coach Mohammed Abbas had lined up on the day, David Kalungi decided to spend the afternoon roosting in his room at the Nelson Mandela Stadium’s guesthouse.
Unknown to Kalungi, someone had allegedly crept into his room. As the pint-sized midfielder sprawled on his bed with his face fronting the mattress, he felt someone apparently massage his rear. Kalungi didn’t like what was transpiring, and so he quickly got up to tell off whoever was massaging his rear.
Kalungi claims that the man who was massaging his rear was a one Chris Mubiru - a maverick character who has struggled to fend off gay inferences in Ugandan football. The story about this sorry episode hogged the spotlight even long after Uganda had banked on Geoffrey Serunkuma’s header to beat Cape Verde 1-0 in the 2006 World Cup/Nations Cup qualifier they had been bracing for.
5. Hassan Mubiru shows raunchy side
Hassan Mubiru is better known as a cool customer on the pitch who has steered away from controversy. However, in 2000 the striker courted controversy when he impregnated an underage girl in Makindye.
SC Villa, the club Mubiru was playing for then, settled the case out of court. Mubiru had been in police custody at Katwe to answer charges of impregnating a school going girl. Mubiru had been having an affair with the girl for some time.
So when the affair resulted into a pregnancy, the girl’s parents didn’t hesitate taking the case to the police because they felt, being a Villa player, Mubiru had a lot of financial muscle behind him. In order to avoid the case being blown out into the media, the Villa executive led by Omar Ahmed Mandela and Kevin Aliro (RIP), paid the girl’s parents who in the end dropped the charges. Interestingly, the girl is now Hassan Mubiru’s wife.
6. Charles Ayiekoh alleged gay scandal
During the Inter Regional Championships in July 2009, a stunning storyline made the headlines. Apparently, Ivan Kyeyune - a radio journalist - reported to police during the aforementioned tournament that Ayiekoh, Maji FC’s assistant coach presently, had told him that he had lovely lips that are good to kiss.
Kyeyune went on to say that Ayiekoh was caressing his thigh, something that forced him to fleethe room and report the matter. However, although the police went on to investigate these allegations that Ayiekoh vehemently denied, no evidence was found to pin Ayiekoh and the case was dropped.
7. Majid Musisi’s twin sex scandals
One was in 1994 and the other was in 1999. The former involved Uganda's star striker bedding his wife's 16-year-old sister. Because she was underage, Musisi was taken to the Police to answer charges of defilement.
Interestingly, he paid up a small amount of money for his freedom and he quickly returned to his base in Rennes, France where he played professional football. This was the only way he could avoid a follow-up on his transgression.
8. Kenneth Kamyuka’s sex romp in 2001
This was during an U-19 International Cricket Council tournament. Owing to his outstanding performances in the league backdrop with bat and ball, Kamyuka had been named the team’s skipper.
Instead of leading by example, Kamyuka decided to leave camp a few days before Uganda took to the oval. Kamyuka’s destination was a lodge where he engaged in a sex romp with an unnamed girl. This incident rubbed local cricket body, UCA the wrong way. Few were surprised when the axe was dropped, with Kamyuka being sent home.
9. Joel Atuhaire alleged rape at Sydney Olympics
When swimmer Joel Atuhaire brought up the rear amongst 65 competitors in the 100-metre breaststroke at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he thought he had reached his nadir. The Ugandan was, however, rattled when he was charged with having defiling a 17-year-old girl near the Games Village. Atuhaire was staring at a maximum term of 14 years in jail if convicted. Luckily, the girl put the Ugandan out of his misery by dropping the charges.
10. Cranes players go on rampage in Nairobi
During the 1983 CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup held in Nairobi, a Pandora Box was opened when then National Council of Sports general secretary, David Otti discovered that Cranes players were not only leaving bars in the wee hours of mornings before crucial matches, but that they had also made their camp open to Kenyan prostitutes.
Naturally the lewd sexual acts of the Cranes players had a knock-on effect and eventually saw Uganda fall tamely to Zimbabwe at the semi-final stage. Some of the players that left with their reputations terribly battered from this despicable incident were Jack Ntale and Emma Mugerwa.
1. She Cranes players fight for man
In 1998, The Crusader’s Kenneth Matovu (RIP) broke a story that stunned the local footballing fraternity. At the time, the national women’s football team - otherwise known as She Cranes - were prepping for an African Nations Cup qualifier.
On the exterior, everything seemed to be fine. But when Matovu peered closer, he discovered that there were lots of tensions in the She Cranes’ camp. Apparently, She Cranes players were fighting for a man. The identity of the man wasn’t clear, but it was certain that he was part of the She Cranes’ backroom staff.
An inquest into the scandal was commissioned by the National Council of Sports. At the end of the probe, She Cranes’ coach Paul Ssali was exonerated. The team manager, Issa Kyambadde (RIP) wasn’t that lucky. The report from the probe made it explicit that Kyambadde wasn’t allowed to go within a foothold of the She Cranes players - leaving nothing to the imagination of many.
2. Dan Wagaluka’s Eritrean escapade
Following a dour 1-0 home win over the then Eritrean champions, SC Villa upped the ante to secure an impressive 1-2 win in the return leg of a 2005 CAF Champions League encounter. Villa players decided to celebrate their victory by sampling the nightlife Asmara had to offer.
Whilst most of the players stuck to punctuating their dance with the occasional swig of an alcoholic beverage, Dan Wagaluka overstepped the line. The midget winger allegedly had sexual relations with an Eritrean prostitute whom he refused to pay.
Wagaluka’s team-mates couldn’t stop laughing the morning after when the aforesaid prostitute came mouthing a description (a short dark man - in her words) of Wagaluka as she sought to have a bill cleared.
3. Kyakutema and Acii’s catfight
It’s a stereotype that has shown no signs of fading away just yet: that of women and catfights. The two seem to get along quite well as was the case back in 1988. The Africa Athletics Championships were back then used to select people who would participate in the Olympics.
When Faridah Kyakutema, Oliver Acii and Co. won all and sundry in the 4 by 400m relay in the 1988 version of the Africa Athletics Championships in Algeria, many Ugandans rubbed their hands in anticipatory relish. During her free time in Algeria, Kyakutema had managed to work up an intimate bond with a Nigerian male athlete.
So when the Nigerian athlete - like Uganda’s 4 by 400m relay team - qualified for the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, Kyakutema expected their chemistry to be aroused. However, the Nigerian opted to date Acii in Seoul. This triggered a catfight between Kyakutema and Acii. Before the race, Kyakutema slapped Acii.
Predictably, Acii retaliated and a fight ensued. Sadly, this bad blood spilled over to the track with Kyakutema refusing to take part in the 4 by 400m relay. This forced Uganda to pull out yet many reckoned that a medal was well and truly within their grasp. When Kyakutema returned home, she was slapped with a two-year ban. Frustrated, she decided to retire even before her ban elapsed.
4. Chris Mubiru’s infamous massage
Having worked his socks off in the first of two training sessions that then national team coach Mohammed Abbas had lined up on the day, David Kalungi decided to spend the afternoon roosting in his room at the Nelson Mandela Stadium’s guesthouse.
Unknown to Kalungi, someone had allegedly crept into his room. As the pint-sized midfielder sprawled on his bed with his face fronting the mattress, he felt someone apparently massage his rear. Kalungi didn’t like what was transpiring, and so he quickly got up to tell off whoever was massaging his rear.
Kalungi claims that the man who was massaging his rear was a one Chris Mubiru - a maverick character who has struggled to fend off gay inferences in Ugandan football. The story about this sorry episode hogged the spotlight even long after Uganda had banked on Geoffrey Serunkuma’s header to beat Cape Verde 1-0 in the 2006 World Cup/Nations Cup qualifier they had been bracing for.
5. Hassan Mubiru shows raunchy side
Hassan Mubiru is better known as a cool customer on the pitch who has steered away from controversy. However, in 2000 the striker courted controversy when he impregnated an underage girl in Makindye.
SC Villa, the club Mubiru was playing for then, settled the case out of court. Mubiru had been in police custody at Katwe to answer charges of impregnating a school going girl. Mubiru had been having an affair with the girl for some time.
So when the affair resulted into a pregnancy, the girl’s parents didn’t hesitate taking the case to the police because they felt, being a Villa player, Mubiru had a lot of financial muscle behind him. In order to avoid the case being blown out into the media, the Villa executive led by Omar Ahmed Mandela and Kevin Aliro (RIP), paid the girl’s parents who in the end dropped the charges. Interestingly, the girl is now Hassan Mubiru’s wife.
6. Charles Ayiekoh alleged gay scandal
During the Inter Regional Championships in July 2009, a stunning storyline made the headlines. Apparently, Ivan Kyeyune - a radio journalist - reported to police during the aforementioned tournament that Ayiekoh, Maji FC’s assistant coach presently, had told him that he had lovely lips that are good to kiss.
Kyeyune went on to say that Ayiekoh was caressing his thigh, something that forced him to fleethe room and report the matter. However, although the police went on to investigate these allegations that Ayiekoh vehemently denied, no evidence was found to pin Ayiekoh and the case was dropped.
7. Majid Musisi’s twin sex scandals
One was in 1994 and the other was in 1999. The former involved Uganda's star striker bedding his wife's 16-year-old sister. Because she was underage, Musisi was taken to the Police to answer charges of defilement.
Interestingly, he paid up a small amount of money for his freedom and he quickly returned to his base in Rennes, France where he played professional football. This was the only way he could avoid a follow-up on his transgression.
8. Kenneth Kamyuka’s sex romp in 2001
This was during an U-19 International Cricket Council tournament. Owing to his outstanding performances in the league backdrop with bat and ball, Kamyuka had been named the team’s skipper.
Instead of leading by example, Kamyuka decided to leave camp a few days before Uganda took to the oval. Kamyuka’s destination was a lodge where he engaged in a sex romp with an unnamed girl. This incident rubbed local cricket body, UCA the wrong way. Few were surprised when the axe was dropped, with Kamyuka being sent home.
9. Joel Atuhaire alleged rape at Sydney Olympics
When swimmer Joel Atuhaire brought up the rear amongst 65 competitors in the 100-metre breaststroke at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he thought he had reached his nadir. The Ugandan was, however, rattled when he was charged with having defiling a 17-year-old girl near the Games Village. Atuhaire was staring at a maximum term of 14 years in jail if convicted. Luckily, the girl put the Ugandan out of his misery by dropping the charges.
10. Cranes players go on rampage in Nairobi
During the 1983 CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup held in Nairobi, a Pandora Box was opened when then National Council of Sports general secretary, David Otti discovered that Cranes players were not only leaving bars in the wee hours of mornings before crucial matches, but that they had also made their camp open to Kenyan prostitutes.
Naturally the lewd sexual acts of the Cranes players had a knock-on effect and eventually saw Uganda fall tamely to Zimbabwe at the semi-final stage. Some of the players that left with their reputations terribly battered from this despicable incident were Jack Ntale and Emma Mugerwa.