Pool restart in doubt

Pool will not resume activities until the association can get enough sponsors to help offset the bills that could very easily push the clubs and Association into further debt.

In a communication sent out to members on September 30, the General Secretary of the Pool Association of Uganda Paul Wasike explained the current situation.

"The National Council of Sports (NCS) convened a meeting with Federations and Associations on Friday 25th September 2020 to discuss a way forward based on the government and Ministry of Health guidelines and requirements issued that we must observe. NCS advised that there would be no extra resources to facilitate the resumption of sports or testing of players," he confirmed.

That alone should send shivers down the spine for any sport that was in the process of restarting. The extra funding from the NCS could have gone a long way but that hasn't deterred associations for attempting to negotiate for cheaper testing.

"Each COVID-19 test currently costs sh240,000. For PAU to hold an individual tournament of 192 players for both ladies and men, we would need at least sh46m for testing. For the league to be held including 22 clubs for ladies and men with 176 players, the cost of testing would be 42.2m every two weeks," Wasike explained.

With testing likely to take up the biggest Budget then it makes sense to put a resumption on hold until the association gets the money required to handle the situation.