Arsenal are set to visit Uganda as part of their 2019 summer pre-season plans, according to the Uganda National Council of Sports.
It’s been over two decades since the Gunners last played a fixture in Africa. That came in the summer of 1993 when the likes of Tony Adams, Anders Limpar and Paul Merson emerged victorious over Manchester United, Orlando Pirates and Kaiser Chiefs on a pre-season tour of South Africa. That trip also included a meeting with the late great Nelson Mandela
In 2012 there were plans for the north London outfit to pay a visit to Nigeria, although that trip was cancelled due to security and logistical concerns. Per Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski and Bacary Sagna were sent over as a form of apology for the cancellation of the game and there was also a promise at the time that the club would return for a game a year later, but that never materialised and now it would appear that they are finally heading back to Africa.
According to Bosco Onyik, chairman of the National Council for Sports, a new partnership with the Gunners is set to be ratified in March. It will also see the Premier League club open a local academy and play a pre-season game there in June 2019.
“We went to London last month on January 16th and had three meetings with management of Arsenal FC with the aim of partnering with them,” said Onyik to a Chinese news Agency Xinhua.
“We agreed that they will train some of our coaches, give the Uganda Cranes chance to train at the Emirates Stadium in London, build an academy and also have their team to visit in June next year to tour Uganda and play some matches.”
This claim does come hot on the heels of confirmation that the Arsenal Foundation partnered with the Family of Hope, a school for children with special educational needs, to build new football pitches in Uganda.