Boxing can wait, says Minister Ogwang

The minister of sports Peter Ogwang has stoked the emotions of the boxing fraternity saying the sport needs to address critical issues in order to be reinstated in school sports.

The controversial former commissioner for Physical Education and Sports, Dan Tamwesigire, who also advocated for the banning of heading among young children, initially ordered the banning of boxing in 2009.

Although other combat sports (karate and kickboxing), para-sports, and mind games have been cleared by the executive of Uganda Secondary Schools Sports Association (USSSA) during their annual general meeting, to be included in the 2024 activities, boxing, which has earned Uganda global recognition for excellence, will remain in the cold once again.

Addressing the media at the 41st assembly of the USSSA recently at GNS Hotel in Old Kampala, Ogwang said boxing needs to create a clear picture of the safety of the sport as well as get the necessary equipment and personnel.

“In our considered opinion, boxing is banned in schools because we need to have the correct gear, and the correct medical personnel,” Ogwang, who was irked by a recent viral video of a coach beating a young girl for losing a bout, said.

“Boxing is about inflicting pain on these young children. And imagine, first of all, you get an adult who claims to be underage and goes into the ring with a young kid. With due respect, that adult can put that kid out of action. Do we have the correct facilities, the correct gear, and the medical personnel when these children are competing? Which parents would want to come out and see that their kid has been knocked dead in a boxing ring? Who is responsible? Is it the school? Is it the government, or is it the federation of boxing? I was told there were specific schools where boxing was practiced. What were they doing at that time? Now that I have this organised group of the USSSA, mine is a process of consultation to see how we revive boxing,” Ogwang said.

However, the Uganda Boxing Federation blames the sports ministry for inaction.

“The Ministry (of Sports and Education) is the beginning and end of boxing problems,” said Moses Muhangi, the president of UBF. “The Minister has never invited us for a meeting and even when we wrote to him, there was no response,” he said.

Muhangi reiterated that as the custodians of the sport, they have the capacity to address issues of safety that concern the Minister.

“But realistically, there's no record of someone who has ever died in a boxing ring in Uganda. The youths play with protective gear while juniors play non-contact boxing,” Muhangi, who said the talk was mere hot air, remarked.

Remarkable

The USSSA celebrated its achievements during the well-attended assembly where it was announced that Uganda had secured rights to host the East African games. Two schools owned by prominent politicians; Amus College of MP Patrick Isiagi and Bukedea Comprehensive of Speaker of Parliament Anita Among Magogo, will host the games next year.

David Ngugi, the general secretary of the East African federation, FEASSA, hailed USSSA as a shining armour in FEASSA for their dominant displays. Uganda has won the regional trophy three years in a row.

The association passed a budget of Shs11.6b, of which Shs7b will be acquired from the government to cover key areas of national and international competitions (Shs8.2b), capacity building (Shs2.3b), financial assistance to zonal and district committees (Shs225m) and infrastructure (Shs150m).

“We want to be able to relieve schools of some of the expenses,” said USSSA president Justus Mugisha. “Schools have been paying Shs11,000 per person per day during national competitions. From the government contribution, USSSA will pay Shs5,000 with the rest going to schools.”

Mugisha also announced a weekend school league which will be played on zonal arrangement starting next year.

“Teams should play throughout the year in a league format. Every zone should choose a sports category they wish to promote and play with neighbouring schools on weekends and public holidays such that we don’t interfere with academic programs,” Mugisha, who issued a strong stance on cheating in sports, said.