10 October 2008
The world's most famous sport has not been very friendly to the people of Uganda despite endless claims that we love the game of football.
We have been consistently failed to live up to the desired standards. Regrettably we just don't seem to learn from our lessons.
And unless something drastic is done, my experience in the game tells me the worst is yet to come, never mind today's hard times.
Football is too big a sport to be handled by an individual or institution; it must be the concern of the whole nation.
Ugandans can argue that we have the talent to deliver at the highest level, perhaps players better than those in countries like South Africa, Benin, Bukina Faso and Rwanda. I probably concur.
But I'm tired of people reiterating that we have better talent. Talent alone will not take us anywhere. We should be asking ourselves why some less talented countries are doing better than us. The aforementioned countries have all recently participated either at the Africa Cup of Nations or the World Cup. And it is that they were all unknown quantities until the late 90's.
The only consistent thing about our football is year 1978, the last time we reached the finals of Africa's premier competition.
Pape revolution
In the 60's, a German coach called Burkhard Pape established a youth structure which generated players that played for several clubs and the national team.
By the time they matured, Uganda was ready not only to have a consistent team but a pool of players for that era.
Thanks to Pape's wisdom, Uganda qualified consistently for the Nations Cup in the 70's.
Uganda's subsequent squads in the 80's and 90's declined but were kept afloat by rudimentary structures that succeeded in making some good players.
The fibre balls (akekyayi) were played in schools, homesteads, rural fields and lower division leagues and played a role in nurturing young footballers.
Such aspiring players learnt the game the hard way and became truly legendary Ugandan stars like Jackson Mayanja.
But even with such methods, we could not produce players to dominate at home or continental level.
It is evident we have not yet done things the way they are supposed to be done and the players we produce are not as good as we think they are. Our end product flatters to deceive and therefore we should stop leaving in denial.
Gov't funding
Our country is just like many other African countries. It is poor and the economy is too thin to generate the kind of money we would need to take the game forward. In the developed world, the private sector injects billions of money in the game.
Such nations are able to do that because their economies are too big, and so are the corporate sectors. In Uganda, it is only a handful of companies that can afford to sponsor sports and MTN is a good example. It is true that football also makes companies like Coca-Cola but the reality is that there is little incentive for the companies.
The government should come in forthwith. The first way is to waive taxes on all sports related sponsorship. If companies saw that the money they pay in sponsoring sports is deducted from taxes they pay, they would come in a rush. Government should exempt taxes on all sports related items.
Teams and institutions get donations but can't import them because of high taxes and ultimately, it is the future Drogbas and Eto's of Uganda who suffer.
With a meagre fraction of funds for sports, there is not going to be a desired leap in fortunes if government does not sink more money into the game.
Soccer fields are being sold and national teams cant travel because the government does not care. Many people blame the president for not loving sports but it's the entire political system of this country that does not care.
Lead by example
I am not bringing up this because I am involved with Proline Soccer Academy, but I think they (Proline) are a perfect example of what I am talking about.
Proline was established to help develop the game in this country and although it is privately owned, the academy has made terrific strides in creating awareness and developing young fooballers.
Last week Proline, along side National Council of Sports and sponsors MTN, launched a coaching scheme that will oversee a new generation of youth football coaches across the country.
That new breed of coaches will help nurture and develop players at the grass root level. Coaches from Manchester United John Shiels and Tony Whelan conducted the clinic at Lugogo and were impressed by the eagerness of participants as well as the strides of the academy.
Coaches from all the youth programs were invited including Kampala Kids League, Edgar's youth program, Kawempe Youth Football Association, Friends Of Football and many more.
If those 34 coaches are able to teach Ugandan kids what they learnt, the sky is the limit.
And all stakeholders do something for the good of Ugandan football, it is a possibility that Uganda can scale the heights of the 70's. We all love Cranes but need to give it a feeding arm. Good luck tomorrow.
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