Written By | Alex Mbamanya
Sheema District champions had played the entire district competition with nine players after the rest were eliminated for ineligibility
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Sheema
Ankole secondary schools girls’ football giants Sheema Girls will have to sit out of action for the next two years after being handed a 730-day suspension.
This comes after the national USSSA Disciplinary Committee found them guilty of using ineligible players in the USSSA Ankole Zone Games in Ibanda last week.
It should be noted that the Sheema District champions had played the entire district competition with nine players after the rest were eliminated for ineligibility. However, when it came to the zonal championship in Ibanda, the team arrived with a full squad and played until the final, where they lost 1-0 to Boni Consilii.
En route to the finals, Sheema Girls had been petitioned by Kashenshero Girls and Ijumo Progressive, but the sitting committee failed to discover faults among the players alleged to be ineligible because they did not have the necessary gadgets to verify them. However, they decided to let the team play under protest as the names of the players in question were sent to Kampala for further investigations.
Meanwhile, after the competition, the Sheema Girls team was not forwarded as qualified. Instead, St Andrews Rubindi was elevated and included among the six teams to go to Mukono.
Now, on Friday, a verdict from the USSSA Disciplinary Committee was released, indicating that Sheema Girls was guilty of using ineligible players.
The verdict indicated that Sheema Girls unlawfully fielded Famous Abamukama, who had been flagged in the USSSA system as ineligible because she had completed S.6 at Highway S.S. Kiganda under the name Janant Nabukeera and had completed PLE in 2018.
It was also discovered that they used Patricia Naiga, Bernadette Nuwaha, and Daphine Kansiime, who were impersonators.
The rest, including Jesica Birungi, Rebecca Wembabazi, Ritah Kirabo, Joveline Kobusingye, Milly Okwelo, Pleasure Nuwahereza, Rebecca Asaasira, Jukian Owomugisha, Namudola Aisha Faridah, Eve Anono, Praise Akankunda, and Precious Atwijukire, had also been forwarded for screening.
By Rule 6.6(b) of the USSSA and Ministry of Education and Sports Guidelines 2026, the use of an ineligible player attracts a two-year ban.
"A school team and its respective officials that fields an ineligible student-athlete shall be disqualified from the competition and banned for a minimum of two years," reads the rule.
As they sit down to wait until 2028, Boni Consilii, Ijumo Progressive, Kibingo Girls S.S., Nyabubare S.S., Kinoni High, and St Andrews Rubindi will represent Ankole in Mukono next week.
It is now evident that Sheema Girls will be stripped of the silver medals they had been awarded as runners-up in Ibanda.
Torch Media Africa
