By Norman Katende and Swalley Kenyi

FEDERATION of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) is among the latest federations that have requested for the Olympic solidarity talent identification and development fund for the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games.

Federation chief executive officer Charles Masembe yesterday confirmed that a programme detailing their need to benefit from the fund has already been sent to Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC), but would be discussed in detail with the committee president - Maj. Gen. Francis Nyangweso - who is currently in Italy for the Winter Olympic Games.

“We sent in our proposal and we are waiting for the president to come back. We will arrange for a meeting and discuss with him the way forward,” said Masembe (below).

He said that their proposal for sponsorship was set to start in April with soccer in secondary schools, where those selected talents will be monitored and put in camps for further training ahead of the Olympic Games.

“The funds are limited to identifying and preparing talent for Olympic Games and that is what we did.”

UOC recently lashed out at national sports bodies saying that only the badminton federation secured the IOC funds amounting to about sh40m.

“We need this money for development projects. We do not know how much we are entitled to but we have done what is required of us to get and utilise this money in time,” FUFA public relations officer Aldrine Nsubuga said on Monday

FUFA joins the athletics body keen on setting up camps in the high altitude Kapchorwa for long and middle distances and another one in northern Uganda for the sprint and field events.

The moves come at a time Nyangweso has been complaining about the fund not being claimed by the different federations.
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