The defending champion Uganda Ludo national team (Uganda Doves) were about to miss out on defending the Africa Ludo Cup of Nations tournament slated for September 27th–30th in Pretoria, South Africa, owing to a lack of funds.
According to the Uganda Ludo Federation President Kalule Hussein, the team will needed close to 163 million Ugandan shillings for the campaign. However, only part of the money was got and only the men’s team went to the Pretoria event on Tuesday morning.
“We wrote to the National Council of Sports, but we didn’t get any reply. We also wrote to the Minister several times, but he has not replied to us on several occasions, it seems their is discrimination in the federations. I beg the Minister Of Education And Sports Mama Janet Museveni and the Speaker of Parliament to intervene in this matter since the State Minister for Sports Peter Ogwang has failed.” said Kalule.
“We have won all Ludo competitions that we have participated in, with the latest being the World Cup in November 2022, Uganda is ranked Number One in the whole world and we have always flown the Uganda flag high, but we are always neglected when it comes to the support from the NCS and government,” Kalule expressed his discontent.
“The team has been in camp at the Chez Johnson Hotel, and we have arrears that need to be paid we shifted our training camp to Nansana at Urban Village.”
The team managed to get our visas and beat the Tuesday 26th September deadline though only the men’s team (Doves) comprised of eight players traveled.
A disgruntled Kalule also said oftentimes his federation has been sidelined when it comes to support from the government, despite the glory fetched by Ludo teams in the numerous tournaments they have represented the country at.
Earlier this year, the government of Uganda paid for registration for the Uganda Doves to play at this tournament.
