Uganda All Stars vs FC Barcelona Legends
The Uganda stars football team is today Saturday 12 Dec playing FC Barcelona Legends at the Nelson Mandela National Stadium in Namboole, Kampala. The match is part of Uganda Tourism Board’s campaign to promote and market Uganda on the international scale. FC Barcelona Legends have just concluded a gorilla tracking safari in Bwindi, a game drive in Murchison Falls National Park and a boat cruise on the River Nile to experience a little of Uganda.
President Yoweri Museveni also hosted the stars to a state dinner, Friday evening, at the State House in Entebbe. Museveni thanked the footballers for choosing Uganda even challenged them to try the glacier and snow covered Mt. Rwenzori.
“I thank you for coming to Uganda and I believe fans and others from your home will get a better view of Uganda after your visit,” Museveni said at the dinner. “When you return, you should try Mt. Rwenzori to see the glaciers that have been affected by climate change,” he added. Mr. Museveni’s comments come in light of the climate change conference going on in Paris.
One of the best locally known stars on the Barcelona Legends team are Patrick Kluivert and Anderson Luis de Sousa "DECO". Other legendary stars on the team are Edgar Davids, Gianluca Zambrotta, Ludovic Giuly, Juliano Belleti and Patrick Kluivert in flesh. The stadium is expected to have thousands who for the first time have the opportunity to see the European stars. Children have will have free access to the game. There will also be a children’s game between the main match.
On the tourism front, the visit of such high profile internationally known players bodes well for business and investment. Before this week, most of them knew nothing of Uganda. That was until Rayco Garcia, a former Barcelona player who organized the event, visited earlier in the year. Now the Barcelona Legends are playing in Africa for the first time, and also support the establishment of a sports academy in Uganda.
“Since I began coming to Uganda, I have seen the immense potential of the children who play football in Uganda,” says Rayco Garcia of RG Sport Solutions. “The missing link is the opportunity. An academy allows them to get the right exposure and once they are seen, they become your best ambassadors- which is good for tourism.”
#visituganda
