ARUA SS DISQUALIFIED OVER FIELDING INELIGIBLE PLAYER IN ARUA CITY SECONDARY SCHOOL SPORTS COMPETITION

Arua city secondary schools sports association disciplinary committee during hearing of petition presented by Nile High School against Arua SS

By Onzoma Albert

Arua City

Arua Senior Secondary School (Arua SS) has been disqualified from the ongoing Arua City Post Primary ball games after being found guilty of fielding an ineligible player, Vuni Hussein, during their quarter-final match against Nile High School at Muni Primary School grounds.

Arua SS had won the gam by 1:0 in full time.

Following a petition presented by Nile High School and subsequent investigations, the disciplinary committee determined that Vuni did not meet the eligibility criteria to participate in the games.

The core issue centered on Vuni’s academic records and age where the committee found that, he had obtained an aggregate score of 36 in the 2025 Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) at Bright View Nursery and Primary School which conflicted with the results he presented during verification, that indicated an aggregate of 29 in the 2024 PLE.

The disciplinary committee hearing, led by Isa Idris, Vice Chairperson and Head Teacher of Arua Town Secondary School stated that, Vuni’s academic documents and age variations constituted evidence of academic forgery.

“We internalize all the evidences it came to our understanding that all the evidences presented by Nile High School were all facts then at the end of the day we used the Uganda secondary school sports Association (USSSA) rules to annul the result against Arua SS. So, therefore, as a committee we declared Nile High School as the winner of the petition and they will continue with the remaining games of the competition” he said.

Representatives from both schools acknowledged the ruling.

Isaac Abiyo, the games teacher of Nile High School, appreciated the outcome of the petition and called for peace and continued good relations between the two schools.

“We have been having a good and peaceful relationship with Arua SS and we have never had any issue amongst ourselves, something I want to see maintained between the two schools” he said.

Shaidy Sabir, the games teacher of Arua SS, accepted the outcome and urged school administrators to exercise extra vigilance in scrutinizing learners’ documents to avoid such issues in future.

“After proper analysis of documents presented by us and Nile High School, I am convinced that the player we played against them is ineligible and the judgement which confirms that we forfeit the points to Nile High School is a fair judgment” he said.

In line with regulations stipulated by the 2026 Arua City Secondary School Games Competition, the committee also imposed a two-year ban on Vuni, prohibiting him from participating in all future city competitions.

Furthermore, Arua SS was disqualified from continuing in the tournament, as the rules specify that any school fielding an ineligible player faces disqualification, bans, and possible penalties. Nile High School, having won the petition, advanced to the semi-finals scheduled on Monday, March 30 2026.