Football, the national sport
Football (or soccer) is the most popular sport in Uganda. In the villages, boys and girls play it all the time. Although there has been a UgandanPremier
League since 1968, dominated by Kampala teams (Villa SC, Express FC, Uganda Revenue Authority and Kampala City Council), it is the English Premier League with Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City that is most popular. There are few bars that do not have a TV to broadcast the matches via satellite, especially on Champions League nights. The national team, The Cranes, which plays at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Kampala, has not often performed well and has never qualified for the World Cup finals. However, they managed to reach the final of the African Cup of Nations (CAN) to everyone's surprise in 1978 and in the round of 16 at the last edition in 2019. The two greatest performances of the country! The great players who have left their mark on the history of the Cranes are Paul Edwin Hasule and Majid Musisi Mukiibi (the first Ugandan player to play in Europe, at Rennes, in 1992), while for the younger generation, we can mention Ibrahim Sekagya, Hassan Mubiru, David Obua or even Tony Mawejje.Boxing and athletics also very popular
Boxing is a very popular sport in the country (Amin Dada himself was champion in the middleweight category from 1951 to 1961). The Kampala Boxing Club, created in the 1950s, trains about 100 youngsters and has allowed the emergence of some great figures on the international scene such as Ayub Kalule (WBA super-welterweight world champion in 1979), John Mugabi (silver medallist at the Moscow Olympic Games in 1980 and WBC super-welterweight world champion in 1989), Cornelius Boza Edwards (lightweight world champion in 1981), or more recently Kassim Ouma, Peter Okhello or Sharif Bogere
Athletics has also produced remarkable athletes such as Boniface Kikrop (long-distance running), Davis Kamoga (400m), Docus Inzikuru (world steeplechase champion in 2005), Alex Malinga (marathon) and above all John Akii-Bua, a true icon of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games (world record in the 400m hurdles). More recently, Stephen Kiprotich, gold medallist in the marathon at the 2012 London Olympics, and Joshua Cheptegei (world record holder in the 5,000m and 10,000m since the summer of 2020) have also distinguished themselves.
Long live adventure sports!
While some tourists play golf, at the Uganda Golf Club in Kampala or at the Entebbe Golf Club, the main reason for coming to Uganda is to tackle its natural riches. Experienced trekkers will be able to mount extraordinary expeditions, ideally in the dry season, in the Rwenzori Mountains. The classic tour lasts 6 days and culminates on the glaciers of Mount Stanley, at an altitude of over 5,000 meters. The Virunga peaks in the Mgahinga Park and Mount Elgon, an extinct volcano on the Kenyan border, are other great challenges. Alternatively, why not consider crossing the country by bicycle or mountain bike? Finally, with its plethora of lakes and rivers (Nile, Lake Victoria, Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga...), Uganda has something to seduce the lovers of aquatic activities: fishing, canoeing, kayaking, rafting..
