Stanbic Bank and the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) have held draws to pick the matches for the round of 16 of the 2018 Stanbic Uganda cup. Senior FUFA officials and representatives from the 16 teams attended the function.
Speaking at the draw held at Stanbic HQ Crested Towers, Daniel Ogong the Head of Marketing for the bank said, “The Stanbic Uganda cup has lived up to all our expectations and a lot and more, so far we have witnessed many exciting matches and a number of major surprises including the record 10 times champions FC Express FC being knocked out by FUFA big league side Kitara 4-3 on penalties. Such a result is testament to the magic of the Uganda cup which allows even the smallest teams the chance to dream big and believe they can go all the way to the finals. I wish the 16 teams left in the tournament the best of luck and encourage fans to come out in full force to support their teams.”
Among the mouth-watering matches soccer fans can look forward to include, giants SC Villa Jogoo who have been drawn against Ndejje University FC, Vipers SC who will face off against Kiira United and KCCA FC who will play against Soana FC.
The first matches in this Round will be played on 21st and 22nd of March 2018.
Commenting on the progress of the Stanbic Uganda Cup so far and style of football exhibited by the teams Hajati Aisha Nalule the FUFA Competitions Director noted that, “As a Federation we are very happy with the way the round of 32 has been played and was conducted. Most teams played attractive and attacking football which is the reason why so many goals were scored. We expect many surprises since this is knock out football. It is getting tighter and tighter per stage. This kind of football has continued to reignite the passion of football fans back to the stadiums.
She continued. “The next round will be a lot more interesting as the teams look to book their places in the money stages of the cup.” He explained the teams that make it to the next stage are each guaranteed a minimum of 5 million shillings regardless of the result. This is thanks to our sponsors who believe in motivating the teams in order to get the best out of them.”
Launching a promotion that will allow fans to win free tickets to the matches in the round of 16 Stanbic Bank’s Head of Digital Banking – Veronica Sentongo announced the start of a Mobile Banking promo ‘Transact and WIN on *290#’. “To win a ticket for the matches, all a Stanbic customer has to do is dial *290# and complete any transaction (such as: pay for airtime, utility bills, school fees or send mobile money to any mobile number using Instant Money). Send your transaction ID to our FB or Twitter page and you will be instantly be entered into a draw. Winners of the tickets will be notified directly how to redeem their tickets to watch the match for free.”
The 2017/18 Stanbic Uganda Cup (formerly known as the Kakungulu Cup) began in October last year with preliminary rounds across the 8 football regions of Kampala, Buganda, Eastern, North Eastern, Northern, West Nile, Kitara and Western. 137 teams participated in these preliminary rounds with 22 progressing to the Round of 64 joining the 16 Uganda Premier League teams and 22 Big League teams.
The Round of 32 was played between 16th of February 2018 and Tuesday 6th March 2018 with the last game being SC Villa vs Bright Stars FC in Wankulukuku Stadium. Villa beat Stars 2-0 becoming the last team to qualify for the round of 16.
Stanbic Bank is the title sponsor of the 2018 Uganda cup having injected 300 million shillings towards Uganda’s oldest and most prestigious knockout competition including 90 million in prize money.
The final of the Stanbic Uganda cup will be played in the last weekend of May 2018 with the winning team bagging 30 million shillings.