Man Jose Kayima
As the world mourns Brazil’s global superstar Edson Arantes do Nascimento Pele who passed on Thursday evening after a long battle with cancer.
The legendary footballer is one of the game’s greats to have landed on Ugandan soil.
On February 5th, 1976, the global icon jetted in at Entebbe Airport to embark on a three day tour of Uganda to promote development of youth football.
By then, he was featuring for New York Cosmos and his visit to Uganda was not planned but he was convinced at the eleventh hour by FUFA chairman by then Era Mugisa and Kenyan Federation chairman Kenny Matiba.
On his visit, the three time world attended a football clinic that had teams of Kololo SS, Lubaga Boys, King’s College Buddo and a central region select team of youth.
He also attended a friendly game between Coffee FC and Uganda Prisons at Nakivubo Stadium. The great Pele also interacted with Uganda Cranes which was to take part in the Africa Cup of Nations Finals that very year.
The superstar gifted the country’s President by then, Idd Amin Dada his famous Santos FC shirt number 10 jersey.
After concluding his visit to Uganda, Pele traveled to Kenya’s capital Nairobi.
Most of the information is from the Observer (Hassan Badru Zziwa)
