Whereas boxing has been and is still the highest medal collector for Uganda from international competitions like the Commonwealth games and the Olympics since 1950, it is most likely that they may not even qualify for the Olympics 2020 and this is why!
TEAM SELECTION:
Until today with only 2 months left for the qualifiers in Senegal, the team that will represent Uganda is not yet selected; meaning that we have no Bombers team in place
TEAM PREPAREDNESS: Due to the fact that up to now the team is not selected, and we have two months left which then automatically implies that the team wont get adequate training ahead of the Olympic qualifiers in Senegal February 2020
LACK OF NATIONAL TEAM COACH:
Even if the team was to be selected, the absence of professional and technical national coach deprives the team of adequate training and technical guidance even if selected. The team has for some time been at the mercy of well wishers like coach Lihanda Patrick
LACK TRAINING FACILITIES(GYM):
It is no longer a secret that the Uganda Bombers have not had access to national gym or training facilities over the years due to the fact that the national gym was privatized to business man who has hence made hard for the Bombers to access the facility even if the team was finally selected
NO TRAINING CAMP:
Hoping that the team eventually gets selected, still the fact that there is no scheduled training camp as for Instance the case was for football where they had to camp in Dubai for some time prior to the AFCON games, this further renders boxing or bombers very unprepared for the upcoming qualifiers
NO FRIENDLY MATCHES: It is known worldwide that normally teams will engage into friendly games as they prepare for such big championships like the Olympics. The Bombers have no scheduled friendly games prior to the qualifiers in Senegal 2020
No Funding:
Unlike the Uganda cranes that is funded to a tune of Shs10bn for its international engagements, the Uganda Bombers is not funded at all by the government of Uganda hence the morale of the athletes is totally down with no allowances etc. This will most likely affect the performance of the team.
LACK OF GOVERNMENT PRIORITIZATION:
The government seems not to have prioritised boxing ahead of this noble championship called the Olympics 2020 yet we all know that our successes as a country have largely come from boxing at such a level of competition
With those and more other reasons, I find it challenging to promise that Ugandans will have the joy of receiving medals from the Olympics out of boxing unless a miracle happens!
Muhangi Moses
President Uganda boxing federation (UBF)
AIBA ITO
