THE LAW AND SPORTS IN UGANDA.

Kitaka Aziz*

This article argues that Sports law encompasses virtually every

substantive area of law. This makes sports law relatively unique
and therefore can be a useful and clarifying lens through which to
study the law more broadly.
This article first expounds on the term, “Sports” as a separate
issue of focus. The bulk of this article then addresses (1) Sports in
Uganda, (2) Sports law as a separate legal issue, (3) how sports law
represents a unique area of law, (4) the main national and
international laws driving or regulating sports in Uganda, and (5)
the need for the development of sports in Uganda.
….………………………………………………………………………………………………………

INTRODUCTION;

What is Sports?
Sports can be defined as an institutionalized competitive activity
which involves two or more opponents and stresses physical
exertion by serious competitors who represent or are part of
formally organized associations.
Sports are an important cultural phenomenon in all countries of the
world and have a unique ability to attract, entertain, inspire, and
challenge a global populace. Despite geographical distance and
language barrier, international sports competitions (e.g Olympics,
Fifa World cup, African cup of nations among others and the
transnational sports events are a commonplace. Sports have been
envisioned as ‘a world language with many dialects.1

1. Sports in Uganda.
Uganda has embraced a number of sports such as tennis, golf,
swimming, cycling, cricket, baseball, motor sport, badminton
among others. But when it comes to sheer popularity, football is
the king in Uganda followed closely by Rugby and Basketball.
Sports in Uganda is mandated and driven by the Ministry of
Education and Sports (MES) which is a cabinet level ministry of
Uganda. It is mandated “to provide technical support, guide,
coordinate, regulate and promote quality education, training and
sports to all persons in Uganda for national integration,
development and individual advancement”.

1
Matthew J. Mitten, “ ‘Sports Law’; implications for the development of international, comparative, And national
law, And Global Dispute resolution, Research Paper No. 10-31, 2010, page 40.
Under this ministry, sports is managed under the Department of
Physical Education and sports. However, other organs through the
Ministry Education and sports for example the National Council of
Sports and the Uganda Olympic Committee also play an active role
in regulating sports activities in Uganda.
The National Council of Sports (NCS) is a statutory organ whose
establishment, status and powers are enshrined under the National
Council of Sports Act of 1964, to among other things; Develop,
promote and control sports activities in Uganda on behalf of the
government, under the Ministry of Education and Sports. The NCS
which is also linked to the Supreme Council for Sports in Africa
(SCSA) and other relevant sports organizations serves as a
REGULATOR and apex organization that coordinates all sports
activities in the country in conjunction with the registered National
Sports Associations/Federations.

The Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) was constituted in 1950

and recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in
1956. The UOC represents Uganda in the international sports
events like, the Olympics(winter and summer), and the Common
Wealth Games and amongst the leading and most noticeable sports
occasions in the world that attract the world’s best athletes who
compete before millions of spectators and sports fans watching
them live and on television. The UOC is therefore
affiliated to; The International Olympic Committee (IOC),
the Association of National Olympic Committee (ANOC),
the Common Wealth Games Federation (CGF), the
Association of National Olympic Committee of Africa
(ANOCA) and the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation
(ISSF).
However, like any other sector, sports is also regulated by national
laws and which are enacted by the Ugandan Legislature and such
laws can be entrenched under what is called “Sports law”.

2. WHAT IS SPORTS LAW?

Sports law represents nothing more than an amalgamation of
various substantive areas of law that are relevant in the sports
context. In line to this perspective, the term “Sports law” is a
misnomer given that sports represents a form of activity and
entertainment that is governed by the legal system in it’s entirety.
Some authors who have wrote about “sport law” argue that,
“Sports law simply entails the application of basic legal precepts to
to a specific industry that are drawn from other substantive areas
of law”.
Professor Kenneth L. Shropshire a Sports law Professor argues
that, “developments such as state and federal legislation impact
sports (for example, state statutes regulating sports agents e.t.c),
suggest a ‘growing sports-only corpus of law’.2
Consequently, he believes it is more appropriate to apply the
“sports and the law” rather than the “sports law” designation to
legal matters that arise in the sports context.
Therefore, it can be noted that, the field of Sports Law deals with
matters concerning disputes arising from sports activities and
therefore which may need legal representation and ethics, sports
and corporate structure, sports and disability, sports and race,
sports and disability, sports and race, sports and gender, sports and
taxation, international issues in sports law and numerous other
permutations. This is therefore true that, public and private laws
can be considered as appropriate mechanisms for controlling the
social norms of sports.
In a nutshell, sports law basically deals with the legal aspects
which are connected to sports activities in Uganda today. These
legal aspects can be derived from the relationship between
Ugandan sports men, sports clubs and other private entities,
athletics among others.

The most interesting element about sports law which makes it a

typical cynosure is that Sports law is so unique since it works hand
in hand with other areas of law. This unique and eye catching
element can be looked at below;

3. How sports law represents a unique area of

law.
Sports law can be seen as a concomitant of other substantive areas
of law since it is in one way or another intertwined with other
areas of law. This is because one can not talk about “sports law”
and does not talk about Contract law, Labour law, Tort law,
Antitrust law and Constitutional law. This notion therefore
demonstrates the uniqueness of Sports law amongst other areas of
law since the sports industry in a broader sense covers various
aspects like (contracts, employment, agreements, violent
fights, drug abuse e.t.c), which are also of great interest within
the legal sectors.
In a nutshell, Sports law with it’s wide variety of legal aspects,
probably encompasses more areas of law than other legal
disciplines.

2
Professor Kenneth L. Shropshire, Introduction; Sports Law, 35AM.BUS.L.J.(1998), p.16
In the following discussion, I will attempt to illustrate how the
sports industry intersects the law at every cross.

A. Contract law.
Contract law retains a vitally important role in the business of
sports. Here in Uganda, the Contracts Act 2010 consolidates the
law relating to contracts and agreements made between two or
more people during their course of dealing.
It is true that any amateur or experienced sports athlete who
wishes to join a well established sport club of any kind has to make
what is termed as an “enforceable Contract” in order to legalize
his or her consent and willingness to play for that club or sports
community.
Nevertheless, contract law principles retain their importance with
respect to the interpretation and application of the terms of
agreements between sports clubs and players that are open to
individual negotiation. For example, in professional football the
following are provisions that are subject to individualized
negotiation;
a) The amount of signing
b) The time of payment
c) The length of the contractual relationship
d) Skill or injury guarantees
e) Salary adjustment agreements
f) Roster bonuses
g) Option clauses e.t.c

Therefore principles of Contract law are highly relevant to the

creation, formation and enforcement of a wide variety of
agreements that are struck in the sports world. These include
endorsement contracts, arena lease agreements and
student-athlete/University scholarship agreements.

B. Labor law.
Sports law has also implicated general labor law principles and
that's why, it has led to the development of labour law
jurisprudence in countries where sports law is highly practiced.
Labor law specifically mediates the relationship between
workers, employing entitles, trade unions and the government.
This means that the relationship between employee and
employer or trade union and in this case “sport clubs” can be
mediated by labor law or Employment law.
Among the key labor laws in Uganda include, the Workers
Compensation Act 2000, the Minimum Wages Act 2000, the
Employment Act 2006, the Labor Union Arbitration and Settlement
Act 2006 and Occupation Safety Act 2006.
In summary, The Employment Act 2006, outlines the conditions of
employment including, contracts of service, termination of
contracts, termination of notices, protection of wages, hours of
work, rest and holidays, employment of women, employment of
children and care of employees.
Likewise, the Workers Compensation Act 2000 entitles employees
to automatic compensation for any personal injury from an
accident arising out and in the course of his/her employment even
if the injury results from the employees negligence.3

In a nutshell, players and coaches may be employees to a given

sports club under a contract, the above Ugandan Labor laws
relatively apply to them during their coarse dealing as they also
apply in other aspects. This is because “Athlete and couch
employment” is also recognized as ordinary employment in Uganda
and therefore Labor and employment laws of Uganda apply to
them under Sports Law.

C. Tort law.
Tort law is the area of law that protects people from bad acts of
others. When a person commits a tort, they violet law, for example,
if a person is damaged by someone else’s wrongful acts, the person
who is damaged can bring a claim for compensation against that
person who commits a tort.
Therefore, tort law principles are applicable in sports settings as
they may be applicable in day to day life.
Weiler and Gary R. Roberts in their book, “Sports and the law”
state that;
Sports, however, pose a unique problem to the law of
personal injury. The aim of a sporting event is to produce
spirited athletic competition on the field or floor. In sports
such as football, rugby, boxing e.t.c, a central feature of
the contest is the infliction of violent contact on the
opponent. In other sports, such as basketball and baseball,
such contact is an expected risk, if not a desired outcome
of intense competition. Even sports such as golf, badminton,
and tennis that are intrinsically non violent for their
participants, may inflict harmful contacts upon the
spectators. This characteristic feature of sports requires
the law to undertake a delicate balancing act when it tailors
for use in sports litigation the standards of liability
developed to govern relationships in very different aspects

3
https://ccedu.org.ug/index.php/blog/36-labor-rights-in-uganda-a-summery-overview.
 of life.4
This quote shows that Tort law represents another area of law
developing in the sports context. And therefore Tort law can be
revealed under;

i. Liability for player-to-player conduct, were by a player can

sue another player in order to recover for injuries sustained if
the other player “intentionally struck, pushed, strangled e.t.c,
him or her during the game, thus resulting into a tort.

ii. Medical malpractice. A player can bring an action against

the team and physicians for the fraudulent concealment of
medical information were by if a player gets an injury during
the game and the team physician does not inform the player
of the continuing risks associated with his injuries can
establish fraudulent concealment by the team which is also a
tort.

iii. University liability to student athletes. This can come about

if their is negligence by the University sports management to
take duty of care towards the sports athletes during practice,
tournaments e.t.c. Therefore, if any problem affects any player
while under the University sports activities, the University is
held liable for not taking duty of care which is also a tort.

iv. Liability to fans. Under this, the sports club has to take duty of
care towards the fans regardless if they are invited or not. For
example, if a player of a certain sports club attacks and injures
a fan, the sports club is held liable for the injuries caused since
it posses the duty to protect the fans from any misconduct
while watching the games. Another example is if the fans of the
hosting sports club attack and cause injuries to the guest fans
during a game, the sports club is held liable for not taking duty
of care to protect the guests.

D. Constitutional law.
Constitutional law principles adjudicate the respective rights of
parties involved in the sports world. This is aimed at protecting the
rights of the athletes. Similarly, constitutional provisions also
regulate bad conduct of the athletes such as drug abuse, Gender
discrimination, Racial segregation e.t.c, since it is forbidden under
the Uganda Constitution. Therefore, such provisions within the
constitution greatly intertwine with the sporting activities and
therefore they are not to be violated by sports men.

4
Weiler and Gary R. Roberts, “Sports and the Law”, Second edition, 1998, page 240
4. Is their a need for the development of Sports
Law in Uganda ?
As discussed above, it is no doubt that Sports law is a unique field
of law as compared to other fields of law since it encompasses
virtually every substantive area of law.
This implies that legal practice for a lawyer involved in the
business of sports can be varied and substantively rich. Thus a
sports law Lawyer can be viewed as the “Ultimate general
practitioner” given the broad array of legal subjects that must be
mastered. This certainly belies the idea that if sports law is greatly
developed in Uganda, many legal issues pertaining the
administration of sports law which have been overlooked by the
sports community can be addressed by sports lawyers(litigators).
Among such issues include;

i. Representing Athletes through contract negotiations and

disputes with their sports clubs, tax paying, legal consultations,
insurance matters, incorporating the clients, representing athletes
in court e.t.c.

ii. Representing sports trainers and couches. In Uganda,

trainers and couches seek legal representation. In this context, the
lawyer may be called upon to perform numerous tasks including,
negotiating and drafting employment contracts, endorsement of
contracts with merchandisers and representing coaches in team
and league disputes.

iii. Acting as counsel for a major or minor league sports

team or individual team. The lawyer who acts as counsel for a
team or league will need to negotiate contracts with employees
including coaches and administrative staff, negotiating lease
agreements relating to sports venues and construction related to
contracts, negotiating endorsement contracts with sports
merchandisers, negotiating television and radio contracts e.t.c.

iv. Representing Education institutions. Under this, sports

lawyers can be called upon to represent their clients in broad and
varied ways, including representing Colleges and University in
negotiating and enforcement of employment contracts with
coaches, players and athletic directors, representing University
and Colleges in law shits addressing such matters e.t.c.
In a nutshell, the above indicate how sports law together with
sports lawyers are important in the sports community and how all
this calls for a need to develop sports law in Uganda. This can
relatively be done through the Nations Schools of Law acting as
the main springboards for fostering the study of “Sports Law”.
Therefore, law schools like, Makerere University law school, UCU
school of law, IUIU school of law, KIU school of law among others
have to be encouraged to start offering Sports Law as a mastering
course i.e “Master of Laws in Sports Law(L.L.M)” in order to
produce people who can be termed as “Sports lawyers”. This can
greatly lead to the development of sports law as well established
field of law.
Similarly, the government of Uganda through the Ugandan
Parliament should also work hand in hand with the National
Council of Sports(NCS) in order to enact various “sports related
Acts of parliament or legislation regulating laws in every
registered National Sports Association for example, “The FUFA Act,
The Uganda Boxing Federation Act, The Uganda Badminton
Association Act” e.t.c, in order to nationally legalize every sport
in Uganda as well as developing “SPORTS LAW”.

5. NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LAWS REGULATING

SPORTS IN UGANDA.
NATIONAL LAWS

THE 1995 CONSTITUTION OF UGANDA.

“Sports” is one of the Objectives stressed under the National

Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy in the Uganda
Constitution. Objective XVII of the Uganda Constitution stipulates
that, “The state shall promote recreation and sports for the
citizens of Uganda”.
Therefore, sports is a constitutionally recognized fundamental
right to every Ugandan without excluding anyone.
Constitutional provisions also provide for other relevant issues in
sport law which include;

Drug abuse;
It is true that under the laws of Uganda, drug abuse is illegal. This
notion is also similarly seen in the Ugandan sports community were
it is forbidden for any athlete to engage in sports activities while
being under the influence of illegal drugs.
The Constitution of Uganda greatly condemns the use of excessive
drugs by any Ugandan and therefore no Ugandan is granted the
liberty to use illegal drugs.
Article 23(1)(f) provides that a person shall be deprived personal
liberty in case that person is reasonably suspected to be, of
unsound mind or addicted to drugs or alcohol, for the purpose of
care or treatment of that person or the protection of the
community.
This therefore means that even in sports, if an athlete uses illegal
drugs, he or she violets Article 23(1)(f) of the constitution of
Uganda.

Racial discrimination;
The discrimination of races by people all over the world is seen as a
misconduct. Such act is greatly condemned since no one is
different of the other because of sick colour, religion e.t.c., as a
famous musician called Lucky Dube once sung that, “Different
Colour but One People”.
The Constitution of Uganda also greatly condemns discrimination
among Ugandans.
Article 21(2) provides that a person shall not be discriminated
against on the grounds of sex, race, colour, ethnic origin, tribe,
creed or religion, social or economic standing, political opinion or
disability.
In a nutshell, any athlete in Uganda who practices racial
segregation violets Article 21(2) of the Uganda Constitution.

Gender discrimination;
The discrimination of women is greatly common in many fields of
life since in most cases women are seen as being weak since they
are in most cases dominated by men.
The Constitution of Uganda greatly condemns the discrimination of
citizens by sex since this creates unreasonable gender inequality.
Article 21(2) of the constitution of Uganda partly provides that “a
person shall not be discriminated against on the ground of sex….”
Therefore even in the Sports context, Gender discrimination as
condemned by the Uganda Constitution should not be practiced by
athletes or sports clubs since such an act can be in violation of
Article 21(2) of the Uganda Constitution.

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF SPORTS ACT, 1964.

This Act establishes the National Council of Sports and other
purposes connected therewith. It is this Act which provides for the
Establishment of the council, The objects of the council and
functions of the council, funds of the council, Members of the
council, Meetings of the council, Regulations and the Annual
Reports.
Under Section 10 of this Act, the minister is conferred powers to
make regulations of the council and these regulations are found
under “The National Council of Sports Regulations, 2014”.
THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF SPORTS REGULATIONS, 2014.
These regulations are made basing on the powers conferred to the
Minister by Section 10 of the National Council of Sports Act.
These regulations provide for the incorporation and registration of
National sports associations, and forms for application for
registration under Schedule 1 of these regulations.
Regulation 3 of these regulations provides for the incorporation of
every “national sports association” in accordance with the laws of
Uganda. A “National Sports Association” means an organization
promoting and supervising a particular sport throughout the
country and includes federation.

Regulation 4 provides for the registration of National Sports

Associations by the Council. Regulations 4(2), 4(3) and 4(4),
provide for exceptions to Regulation 4 i.e, not registering more
than one National Sports Associations, not registering a national
association which is Incorporated as a company.

Regulation 13(1) provides for the national sports associations to

organize sports competitions for the sports they are recognized for.
Regulation 13(3) provides that the National sports associations
shall issue clear rules and regulations regarding the participation of
any person or club in a competition organized by the association.

INTERNATIONAL LAWS AND INSTRUMENTS.

The International Charter on Physical Education and Sports

(1978)
Article 1 of this charter provides for the practice of physical
education and sports as being a fundamental right for all:
“……every human being has a fundamental right of access
to physical education and sports….”

The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR)

Article 24 of the UNDHR grants ‘the right to rest and leisure.

The Convention on the Rights of a Child (1990).

Article 31 of this convention recognize the right of a child to rest
and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPD),

2006.
This requires state parties to take appropriate measures to enable
‘persons with disabilities to participate on an equal basis with
others in recreational, leisure and sporting activities.
The International Convention against Doping on Sport 2005.
This convention intends to commit states domestically and at the
international level to “the fight against doping in sports and
obligates signatories to “adopt appropriate measures” which may
include legislation, regulation, polices or administrative practices
in order to kick doping out of Sports.

6. Conclusion;
Sports law which is also known as “Lex Sportiva” has potentially
board implications for the development of international,
comparative, and national law as well as global dispute resolution,
which often are not recognized or carefully considered.
It offers fertile ground for academic study by legal scholars as well
as those who teach sport science and sports law courses or those
who focus their scholarship on sports law issues. In addition,
lawyers and judges need to be aware that judicial resolution of
sports related cases may provide the seed that germinates into
jurisprudence with broader application and more widespread
effects.5

REFERENCES.

1. Introduction; Sports law, BUS.L.J (1998).

2. The 1995 Constitution of Uganda.

3. Marquette University Law School Legal Research paper series,

Research Paper No.10-13, 2010.

4. Sports and the Law, Weiler and Gary R. Roberts, Second Edition,
1998.

5. Citizens Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda website.

6. Uganda Ministry of Education and Sports website.

7. National Council of Sports website.

Kitakaaziz11@gmail.com Research Article 3 2019

5
Matthew J. Mitten, “Sports law: Implications for the development of Internation, Comparative, And National
Law and Global dispute Resolution, Research paper No. 10-13, 2010, page 53.