Visa woes deny Uganda darts team spot at Professional World Cup in Germany
The requirements imposed by these countries are often too harsh and difficult to fulfill for athletes who are mostly students and come from poor families, making it nearly impossible to raise everything required.
NCS Secretary General Dr. Patrick Ogwel (center) with darters Tom Onyuti, Patrick Ochieng (second left), Juma Saedi (second right), and manager Alex Obalim at the NCS office. The team presented the trophies won at the East Africa Professional Darts Tournament in Kenya. — Photo by Johnson Were
Visa challenges continue to affect mostly African athletes hoping to participate in international events, especially in European countries.
The requirements imposed by these countries are often too harsh and difficult to fulfill for athletes who are mostly students and come from poor families, making it nearly impossible to raise everything required.
The latest victims are the Ugandan darts team of Patrick Ochieng and Juma Said, who were denied German visas to participate in their maiden Professional Darts World Cup in Frankfurt, which ended on Sunday, June 14, 2026.
Ochieng, the undisputed number one African professional darter, was denied a visa to Germany together with his teammate Juma Said to participate in the world tournament.
Uganda Darts Association (UDA) Chairman Abbey Ariong confirmed the development, saying that both the federation and the National Council of Sports (NCS) tried everything possible, but the authorities at the embassy made their decision.
"I want to let you know that the Uganda Darts team to the BetVictor World Cup of Darts has been denied visas to travel to Frankfurt, Germany, despite having submitted what we thought were all the requirements—including securing return tickets, all necessary financial support from the Government of Uganda through the National Council of Sports, and a diplomatic note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," Ariong said.
"Our players have remained calm and composed despite this huge disappointment. We will now focus on other competitions to come," he added.
The government had fully supported the team, and through NCS injected close to sh58 million to facilitate their travel.
However, most of the challenges affecting athletes are that many do not have satisfactory bank statements and have not travelled to other competitions outside the country, according to their passports. This gives authorities the impression that these athletes will disappear in their countries.
Uganda made an appeal but was unsuccessful. Malawi, who were runners-up, also could not process visas to travel to Germany, meaning Africa was not represented in the World Cup.
Team manager Alex Obalim was very disappointed but urged the Uganda Darts Association to always engage embassies earlier to be able to process documents on time.
"I want to thank NCS and UDA for the efforts put in, but we must now put in more effort to make sure that we travel to all other international competitions in African countries. I think our athletes should be in a position to compete in all regional and continental events to show that they are active athletes competing at that level," Obalim said.
"Denying athletes visas is a big demotivation, especially to the young ones. It kills sports development and leaves sports for only the rich who have good bank statements," he added.
He urged the Uganda Darts Association to now start focusing on the upcoming Professional Darts tournament in Botswana and ensure that Ugandan athletes participate.