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In Uganda, we have had countless scenarios of age cheating, with several sports men constantly denying any age attached to them, while in other scenarios, their sporting experience speaks much more about their sporting age.
It is a practice that has been described as the ‘scourge of Africa’, to the extent that it has become a norm where African athletes have two ages; the sporting age and their true age.
In Uganda, we have had countless scenarios of age cheating, with several sports men constantly denying any age attached to them, while in other scenarios, their sporting experience speaks much more about their sporting age.
But the new National Sports Act promises an enormous fine for sports men and/or their agents who get caught within the dirty net of age cheating.
Section 69 of the 2023 National Sports Act, places a penalty of 10 years imprisonment or a fine not exceeding 500 currency points to any culprits.
“A person shall not falsify the information of the identity, age or level of education of a person who participates in a sports competition,” paragraph A of the section states.
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“… offer another person money or any other form of payment or settlement, in exchange for the enrolment, registration or the transfer of the person in a specific sports team, in order for the person to participate in a sports competition for the sports team.”
“A person who contravenes this subsection commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding five hundred currency points or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding ten years, or both,” the law states regards the penalty.
On Monday, the President of Uganda, H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni assented to the National Sports Bill 2023, which replaces the 1964 National Council of Sports Act.
This marks the most significant revamp in the sports sector that the East African nation has witnessed in over half a century.
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Magogo, the Budiope East legislator who initially introduced the bill to Parliament in November 2022, highlighted the need for immediate reforms.
“We have criminalized age falsification and document falsification which has been a very big vice in schools’ football. But this is where we pick our athletes from,” Magogo said.
“So, again the perpetrators [of these acts], there is no way you can ban them as schools’ sports, because what are you going to do to them.”
“Some of the children are led into these things, and in the new act, it becomes criminal and it is you against the state for falsification of these documents for the objective of using overage players in underage competitions,” the FUFA President explained.
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Referees, players, club owners and federation employees have been prohibited from any form of betting in the new laws. They are not allowed to offer betting tips for any sports activities, including the English Premier League.
Yet, the lack of digital records in the country has been the main driver helping unscrupulous sportsmen and school officials falsify ages to appear younger to get opportunities
The new law arrives in the wake of numerous incidents involving age and identity falsification, notably in schools' sports.
The legislation aims to cut down these manipulations, driven by the allure of fame and opportunity, especially by private schools which often prey on talented young people from less affluent backgrounds.
In the past, such issues manifested in players repeating classes and participating in school-level competitions like the Copa Coca-Cola championship previously or any other continental and international competitions.
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The issue has had international ramifications for Uganda. The country has faced disqualification from age-specific tournaments.
In 2016, the Uganda U20 national team was disqualified from the 2017 under-20 World Cup qualifier against Egypt, following a complaint from Rwanda about an overage player.
It was found that Goalkeeper James Ahebwa had been registered to play for SC Villa in the Caf Champions League two years earlier, using a birth date of 1997. Yet for the under-20 qualifiers, he produced a passport that stated he was born in 1998.
More recently, Royal Giants Mityana was denied visas for the South Africa CAF African Schools Football Championship in March 2023 for age-related discrepancies.
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There have been localized measures to curb this vice, and the advent of a national law, helps ease policing against the vice.
For example, FUFA uses a strict club licensing system that includes, among other things, the need to provide a national ID or passport.
A five year digital agenda created by the Ministry of Education and Sports in 2021 had a significant impact on how many students were enrolled in schools.
The Education Management Information System (EMIS) portal must be used by schools to register students. In June 2022, this exercise started.
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The information gathered by educational institutions is meant to act as the foundational knowledge for student verification and the issuing of National Identification Numbers (NINs).
Head teachers will utilise the NINs to send learners' school-based assessment results to the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) in accordance with the new lower secondary curriculum.
The Uganda Secondary Schools Sports Association (USSSA) may access this procedure for its own use, and it comes with an image of the learner.
The USSSA started using an online registration site, which has assisted in eliminating players that are unnecessary.
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