Tennis: UTA still grappling with ITF debt

Ugandan tennis players will have to wait for the next financial year before they can take part in International Tennis Federation (ITF) sanctioned activities.

This comes after Uganda Tennis Association (UTA) failed to clear the $25000 (sh89.9m) which they owe ITF in time. 

Late last year, UTA harboured plans of getting reinstated to ITF and being considered for this year's calendar after National Council of Sports (NCS) pledged to clear the debt in instalments. 

NCS together with Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) then managed to make their first deposit of $6000 (sh21.5m) and $1000 (sh3.5m) respectively. 

UTA was expected to clear the next instalment at end of this month with the entire debt being settled by July. 

"We are committed to clearing the debt, but we still need more time as we wait for funding from the government. The whole debt will be cleared by July," Nicholas Muramagi the NCS general secretary said. 

UTA ceased to be affiliated to ITF in 2012, after failing to clear their annual subscription of $4000 (sh14.5m) which by then each member country was supposed to pay. 

As NCS handles the ITF debt, UTA still has an uphill task of clearing a $2250 debt (sh8m) owed to the Confederation of African Tennis (CAT). 

By the end of last year UTA had only managed to pay $1000 (sh3.6m) and they now hope to clear the debt as soon as possible. 

Through subscription, there are various benefits the local tennis fraternity gets such as; grants for the players to participate in various ITF junior circuits, participation in the Davis Cup and Fed Cup events, admission of players to ITF training centres in Burundi and Morocco, grants for coaches courses and selection of talented players on to ITF/Grand Slam development fund junior touring teams.