Pepsi Schools Champions League kicks off Tuesday at Legends 

The Uefa Champions League returns this Tuesday, March 7; running through Wednesday, March 8. The second legs of the round of 16 clashes involving Chelsea/Dortmund, Benfica/Club Brugge, Bayern Munich/PSG, and Tottenham/Milan are yet to be decided. At stake are berths to the quarterfinals.

However, as one of the sponsors of the Uefa Champions League, Pepsi has decided to bring the tournament’s feel closer to its brand’s customers. Pepsi has brought together eight schools: Kibuli SSS, Ndejje SSS, Ntare, Mbarara High School, King’s College Budo, St Henry’s College, Namugongo SSS and Makerere College, to compete in what has been dubbed the Schools’ Alumni Champions League. 

For the remaining period of the 2022/23 Uefa Champions League season, former students of the schools mentioned above will be converging every champions league match-day, to compete.

Ernest Ssentongo, Pepsi brand manager said: “We are recreating our Ugandan version of the champions league through these alumni tournaments.” 

Ssentongo added that as a company, they have observed that these school alumni football tournaments bring people together, to have fun, as they play. So, spicing up their games with added incentive to compete, is what Pepsi is bringing. After they have finished playing among each other, they will all collegiate to watch the live Uefa Champions League games.

The alumni champions league will comprise a total of 32 teams. Each school will field four of their best teams. Essentially, 16 games will be played every game day. A full game will run for a total of 30 minutes. And all these will be played on floodlights at Legends Rugby Club. 

It will be the first time that a schools’ alumni football tournament is being played at night. But all this, according to Ssentongo, is intended to bring a new feeling to the participants of what it is like playing under floodlights. Ssentongo added, that this tournament provides those who will compete, to actually exercise, which enables them to boost their fitness too.

Considering the amount of time many people spend at their work desks, this Pepsi initiative, which is also part of Crown Beverages’ corporate social responsibility, will help promote healthy living for both men and women. Teams will comprise 10 players each time they are walking onto the field. But of those players, one must be a woman, otherwise, play only eight.

After the exertions, every team will have a lot of Pepsi Max, the company’s sugar-free drink, to enjoy on top of other soft drinks, that Crown Beverages makes. That will be alongside watching the Uefa Champions League games on big screens at Legends. 

That said, this whole programme, is part of the activities that are going to run for the next few months in a Shs 1.6 billion promotion campaign, dubbed: ‘Thirsty for More’, where all Ugandans have a chance to win, too. By just buying a Pepsi Max or a Pepsi 300ml glass bottle, customers just have to check under the crown, to win items such as T-shirts, caps, headphones, string bags, and soda among other prizes.

jovi@observer.ug