FUFA President Eng. Moses Magogo
A section of MPs on Parliament’s Education and Sports Committee have called for an end to the monopoly of Government sports funding by the Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA).
The lawmakers want all other sports to benefit from the funding.
The proposal was fronted by Jacob Opolot (Chairperson Education and Sports Committee) and backed by Margaret Rwabashaija (Workers MP) at an internal planning meeting the Committee held today ahead of consideration for the National Budget Framework Paper 2021/2022 for the education sector.
Opolot argued that it is high time Parliament evaluated critically investment to FUFA and ensure the funding is shared amongst other sports clubs because FUFA has been receiving Shs10bn annually for many years while other sports associations get a miserable funding.
“Personally I think this is the time for this money to be shared amongst sports associations if we can achieve what we want. Because the truth is that that money is really not impacting FUFA as a football association but it is more for individuals. The issue is just selfish interests. This money must be redistributed to all sports associations, yes FUFA can still get more but all sports associations should be facilitated to survive, grow and shine,” said Opolot.
However, Opolot’s change in mind is in stark contrast to a move he made during the consideration of the 2019/2020 national budget for National Council of Sports-NCS where he led the Committee in recommending for the increment of the Council’s budget from Shs16.2bn to Shs26bn of which, Shs10Bn was given to FUFA alone.
At the time, Opolot who was Chairperson Education Committee and defended the allocation on grounds that FUFA was entitled to the lion’s share of the funds because Uganda Cranes qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2020 and that the directive had come from President Museveni, leaving the other associations to share the remaining Shs6.2bn.
Uganda is home to over 50 sports associations among which include; National Olympics Committee, Uganda Boxing Federation (UBF), Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations (FUBA), Association of Uganda University Sports (AUUS) Uganda Netball Federation (UNF), Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF) and Uganda Volleyball Federation (UVF) among others.
