NCS tells dormant federations to forget about gov't funding

National Council of Sports (NCS) General Secretary Bernard Ogwel has told federations that they should not expect to receive support from the government for sustainability when they are not doing what is expected of them.

“According to the NCS statutory instrument, a recognised national sports association may organise international or national competitions in the sport for which the association is recognised, and it’s on these grounds that the support from the government is based,” noted Ogwel.

Among the 51 recognised federations by NCS, some of them have stubbornly refused to have local tournaments and are only heard of when crying to NCS for financial support to send their teams to international events.

Federations like: VX Uganda, Uganda Zurkhaneh Sports Association (UZSA), Uganda Ultimate Frisbee Association (UUFA), Uganda Fencing Association (UFA)Uganda Roll Ball Association (URA), Uganda Canoe Kayak Federation (UC-KA), Uganda Archery Federation (UAF), Uganda Taekwondo Federation (UTF), Scrabble Association of Uganda (SAU), Uganda Body Building and Fitness Association (UBFA) and Uganda Draughts Association (UDA) have arguably not had any locally organised event ever since the reopening of sports last year.

Uganda Fencing Association blames NCS for prioritizing certain disciplines and leaving other federations to share very little support from the government.

“Having no clear pathway on what grounds government bases to share the funds to the federations is partly responsible for most federations being dormant. Those receiving the resources from the government keep on having the tournaments while we don’t,” remarked Odongo.

The president of Uganda Draughts Association Daniel Isabirye admits not receiving any financial assistance from the government for the last financial year hence the reason why they have their tournaments organised on a low scale not even calling for media attention.

“We are not getting any funding from the government, but we have had two tournaments this year including the International draughts 10 by 10 in Hoima district, and last Sunday, we had pool checkers in Masindi district although no media attention was called on to cover the event,” revealed Isabirye.

Isabirye still hopes to receive some financial support from NCS as he was told by Ogwel. 

"Ogwel had promised money to us but until now, we haven’t received any money,” Isabirye said

He called on the general public to come and witness the forthcoming draughts event this month.