Uganda Lawn Tennis Association (UTLA) could miss out on assistance from the International Tennis Federation (ITF) after going for five years without paying affiliation fees to the world body.
The money now stands at 20,000 US Dollars.
Cedric Babu, the UTLA Chairman revealed to URN on Wednesday that they are trying to contact stakeholders and the government to help them raise the money.
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He said he will be traveling to Europe soon to meet the ITF people over the matter. Babu also revealed that they are concentrating on the juniors so that they can get as many young players to love the sport.
Apart from Duncan Mugabe who has held Uganda’s flag for long in the game of tennis including winning a bronze medal at last year’s All Africa Games in Mozambique, the sport has generally lagged behind. But Babu says things are changing and young players like David Oringa, who won the Uganda Open last weekend, are coming up.
When questioned why his administration has also failed to bring on board as many sponsors to support local events, Babu, a former national player, said it is not easy getting many partners in a short while, but noted that he had already brought the likes of Nile Breweries Limited (NBL) through their Caste Lite brand and Victoria University to support the tennis calendar.
