The 19th edition of the Airtel Masaza cup kicked off on Saturday 24th June 2023 at Mutesa II Stadium, Wankulukuku. The opening match was graced by Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II where Mawokota defeated Busiro in a 3- 1 goal score.
As before, the tournament will have the 18 counties of Buganda Kingdom pooled into three groups to participate in the games. These counties include; Busiro, Ggomba, Mawokota, Ssese, Mawogola, and Kabula who are in the Muganzirwazza group, The Masengere group comprises of Buddu, Buweekula, Kyaggwe, Kyaddondo, Buluuli, and Kkooki. The final group, Bulange has Ssingo, Bulemeezi, Buvuma, Bugerere, and Busujju counties.
Sports tournaments such as the Masaza Cup are a great opportunity to bring people from all regions together for the love of the sport and also a platform to sensitize the masses on societal issues affecting the communities. This year’s edition will run under the theme “Men in the fight against HIV/AIDs to save the girl child” which will further boost the Presidential Fast-Track Initiative (PFTI) to end AIDs as a public health threat in Uganda by 2030.
Airtel Uganda’s PR Manager David Birungi, said, “As the tournaments official sponsors and in line with our new tagline- A Reason to Imagine we hope to give the players a platform to showcase their talent, football lovers and enthusiasts an opportunity to socialize as well as engage in business, among other activities on and off the pitch that enable socio-economic growth.”
He added, “We thank Buganda Kingdom for religiously ensuring that the Masaza Cup Tournament is hosted annually year since its inception, and we promise to constantly support such initiatives where talent is nurtured, as well empowering the youth to use the platform to become the best talent in the football world or any other field they are passionate about.”
The Masaza Cup is a football tournament that was introduced in 2004 by the Buganda Kingdom to groom talent among the youth across the different Counties or Masaza’s that make up the Buganda Kingdom and the surrounding regions. This can be seen with the great talent that has previously been scouted to play for established local and international clubs like, Farooq Miya from Mawokota who is a midfielder at Caykur Rizespor, a Turkish Football Club, Frank Ssebufu from Buddu currently with Uganda Cranes and Wakiso Giants, among others.
Owek. Charles Peter Mayiga mentioned that “Airtel Uganda’s support towards Masaza Cup preparations over the years has been instrumental in enabling us to consistently host the tournaments over the years and I want to appreciate them for their commitment towards corporate social initiatives that improve the talents among the youth and the livelihoods of our people in general.”
“Our brand promise as Airtel Uganda is to give the youth a reason to imagine and we will always participate in activities like Masaza Cup that enables us to fulfill our commitment among other initiatives in other fields like education, entertainment, agriculture, health among others that positively impact our communities and the country as a whole,” Birungi concluded.
The stakes are high for defending champions Busiro to hold on to their title for the second time in a row as other competing counties are determined to bring the Cup home. The tournament which will run from late June to early September 2023 is guaranteed to keep supporters on their toes as they cheer on their respective teams to win the 19th edition.
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