A children's football team from Lira district participating in the ongoing under-14 national football tournament in Gulu attributes its poor results to corruption. Solomon Omer is captain of the Adyel Primary School team. He says young footballers in Lira have good school teams and are eager to exploit their talent on the national scene.
Omer says progress is hard because the district doesn't give them money for sports activities and his school cannot afford training kits, uniforms and football boots for the players. He says he isn't surprised that Adyel Primary School has only won one of the three games it has played so far.
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Albert Luto, the Adyel games teacher, says Lira Municipal Council had pledged to meet the school's sports costs, but hasn't honored its promise. The Lira Municipal Education Officer, George Milton Abwa, was not available t explain why.
Solomon Omer says the absense of money has not diminished his passion for the sport. He dreams of growing up to achieve the fame status of the world's best footballers.
//Cue in: "I want to be ..." Cue out: "... dodging and scoring."// 18 primary schools from across Uganda are participating in the under-14 national football tournament. New Life School in Entebbe is the reigning tournament champion.
