By our reporter
KAMPALA: Uganda and Tanzania are to table a joint bid to host the 2027 AFCON tournament.
This was revealed by the state Minister for sports Peter Ogwang while appearing on UBC TV Behind the headlines program on Wednesday night.
Minister Ogwang explained that the government has now embarked on the campaign to improve on the state of the existing and construct more stadiums in the country in order to meet the requirements for hosting the tournament.
He added that Namboole national stadium that is under renovation will be open to the nation for use six months from now.
The minister who was discussing the top ”The Impact of Qatar 2022 World cup” alongside sports administrators in the country, also revealed government is going to construct other stadia citing Buhinga in Fort Portal and Akibua in Lira as part of the government’s efforts to ensure it meets the requirements of hosting the AFCON tournament and to develop the sports sector in the country.
The politician added that the government is in the final stages of negotiations with a European investor who is going to construct an international football academy in Hoima district that will help in identifying, developing and nurturing football talents in the country.
”The investor will be bringing in experienced coaches from European countries including Spain who will nurture the emerse talents in our country which will see many of our players joining big clubs including those in Europe since the academy will have direct links with such clubs”, said Minister Ogwang.
He added that after getting required training and the exposure the players will play for the country that will help Uganda perform well at continental and world tournaments.
However the minister challenged the private sector to come out and support the sports sector in order to develop the industry in the country saying that the private sector has played a big role in developing sports in the giant sporting countries in the world citing Germany where he said the government offers very little financial support to the sports sector.
Appearing on the show hosted by Charles Adongtho, Aldrine Nsubuga, a sports enthusiast and Startimes TV’s director for marketing noted that Uganda still has several challenges in football administration, talent development and nurturing evidenced by the country having new faces each time the coaches summon the players to the national team which is not the case with other countries.
Nsubuga explained that this is due to the inconsistency in the players’ performances resulting from poor nurturing.
Nsubuga said that there are no shortcuts in football development noting that countries that are performing well in the sector including Morocco invested heavily in it.
Nsubuga thefore asked the government to invest in sports if the country is to achieve its dream of being among the best sporting nations in the world.
Morocco became the first African country to reach the semi finals of the football world club where it lost to France 2-0 in this year’s tournament that was hosted by Qatar.
