Leadership roles on the development of sports in Uganda: A case study of the Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA) 1924-2011
Abstract
The study was to examine leadership roles on the development of football in Uganda as case study of the federation of Uganda Foot ball Association (FUFA) 1924 -2011, whereas it is well acknowledged that football is the most popular sport in the world and also in Uganda. It brings together people of different tribes, different religions, culture, economic and political aspirations and sports in general; football in particular was seen as a unifying factor in the society.
The topic was chosen because the sport is the most popular not only in Uganda but also in the whole World, and has strong influence on the social political and economic impact in the world well knowing that it has a unique ability to use its unifying power to combat social ills and bring people together in peace and friendship.
The information was collected through the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods, qualitative methods were used to get the respondents perceptions, attitudes feelings while quantitative methods where used in collection and computing data. The study was conducted in Kampala since the football governing body had its headquarters in Kampala and the stakeholders responsible for the development of the sport were easily accessed in Kampala. A sample size constituted 63 respondents in the sports sector; Random sampling was used because it is free of bias and easy to use.
Data was collected through the use of questionnaire, interview, observation, library, internet surfing, person visits and focus group discussion. The researcher ensured validity and reliability by use of experts in the various fields to look at the questionnaires. Data generated was coded and tallied; it was analyzed using statistical package for social scientists (SPSS). The relationship between leadership and development of sports was analyzed using Pearson correlation co-efficient.
It was found that consulting the staff and the players encouraged them to be unified and even become more committed to their clubs, more so choosing leaders democratically meant that players would choose leaders who were financially transparent for better accountability.
By the way of conclusion it was seen that democratic leadership style if adopted in most of the clubs was seen as a better leadership style that would promote the development of football in various clubs if they are to develop the sport among the youth. It was also seen that consulting the staff and the players encouraged them to be unified and even became more committed to their clubs.
The researcher recommended that there is need for players to choose club leaders democratically so that trusted leaders in terms of financial management could lobby for funds and make players committed to their clubs since they were democratically elected. The federation also needed to intervene in club affairs in case of poor leadership in some clubs. It is also had to create football academics and clinics at the grass root.
The ministry of Education and Sports to mobilize various actors including parents, community leaders, schools, businesses, media, religious groups, NGOs to develop the sport in various aspects.
There is need for clubs to look for alternative funding for their organizations; this should be done by contacting various organizations like MTN, COCA COLA, and NIC which can also advertise their products or services during sports time.