Invest more in athletics
Mar 30, 2006
DORCUS Inzikuru and Boniface Kiprop have done a wonderful job of boosting Uganda’s image abroad by winning two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
DORCUS Inzikuru and Boniface Kiprop have done a wonderful job of boosting Uganda’s image abroad by winning two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
Government has now promised to build Inzikuru a house and uganda telecom has made a generous additional donation to the three Ugandan medal winners. Hopefully Kiprop and Inzikuru will have a successful season on the European athletics circuit this year and will be able to win even more money. They richly deserve it.
But we also need to question whether government has its funding priorities right.
Government has contributed only U Sh 8,000,000 to the National Council of Sports board to support athletics in the financial year 2005/6. The cost of building a house for Inzikuru will probably be ten times that amount. If government values gold medallists so highly, why doesn’t it spend more creating them, rather than rewarding them when they reach the top against all odds?
During the Cold War, countries like East Germany pursued sports programmes as a form of propaganda. Their victories on the sports fields were intended to demonstrate their ideological supremacy.
Today countries like China and Australia still invest heavily in sports development as a form of self-promotion. Kenya too has gained world renown because of the outstanding achievements of its middle and long-distance runners. Success in athletics remains one of the best forms of international public relations available today.
Government spent one million US dollars sponsoring a programme on CNN. That money would have resulted in much more positive coverage of Uganda in the world media (including on CNN) if it had been spent on a proper sports development programme for young Ugandan athletes with world class potential.
The victories of Kiprop and Inzikuru should be a wake-up call for government. We should invest more in supporting our young athletes and boxers so that they can bring real glory to Uganda on the world stage.
Government has now promised to build Inzikuru a house and uganda telecom has made a generous additional donation to the three Ugandan medal winners. Hopefully Kiprop and Inzikuru will have a successful season on the European athletics circuit this year and will be able to win even more money. They richly deserve it.
But we also need to question whether government has its funding priorities right.
Government has contributed only U Sh 8,000,000 to the National Council of Sports board to support athletics in the financial year 2005/6. The cost of building a house for Inzikuru will probably be ten times that amount. If government values gold medallists so highly, why doesn’t it spend more creating them, rather than rewarding them when they reach the top against all odds?
During the Cold War, countries like East Germany pursued sports programmes as a form of propaganda. Their victories on the sports fields were intended to demonstrate their ideological supremacy.
Today countries like China and Australia still invest heavily in sports development as a form of self-promotion. Kenya too has gained world renown because of the outstanding achievements of its middle and long-distance runners. Success in athletics remains one of the best forms of international public relations available today.
Government spent one million US dollars sponsoring a programme on CNN. That money would have resulted in much more positive coverage of Uganda in the world media (including on CNN) if it had been spent on a proper sports development programme for young Ugandan athletes with world class potential.
The victories of Kiprop and Inzikuru should be a wake-up call for government. We should invest more in supporting our young athletes and boxers so that they can bring real glory to Uganda on the world stage.