Federation Secures Full Registration as Government Overhauls Sports Governance Nationwide
Kampala – Netball Uganda has been officially confirmed as one of just eleven national federations to fully satisfy the National Council of Sports’ (NCS) rigorous compliance requirements under the National Sports Act, Cap. 151, in what stands as one of the most sweeping governance overhauls in Ugandan sport in recent memory.
The confirmation followed a National Council of Sports Board sitting on July 17, 2026, bringing to a close nearly a year of nationwide inspections, document reviews, physical verification exercises, and public objection hearings involving the country’s recognised sports governing bodies. The process began after the expiry of an initial five-month remedial compliance window on June 7, 2026.
Of 51 National Sports Organisations previously recognised under the old legal framework, only 45 submitted registration applications ahead of the June 2025 deadline. Following exhaustive assessments, including physical verification exercises carried out across 115 districts, NCS determined that only eleven organisations had fully met every requirement of the Act. Netball Uganda featured on that shortlist alongside the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA), the Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations (FUBA), Uganda Boxing Federation, Uganda Athletics, Uganda Tennis Association, Uganda Table Tennis Association, Uganda Chess Federation, Badminton Uganda, Uganda DanceSport Federation, and the Pool Association of Uganda.
For Netball Uganda, the achievement carries particular weight given the federation’s turbulent recent history. The certificate had previously been revoked in 2023 amid leadership disputes and governance breakdowns, prompting World Netball’s intervention and a comprehensive rebuilding process that included the federation’s rebranding from the Uganda Netball Federation to Netball Uganda under new leadership. Clearing this latest, far more exhaustive national compliance exercise represents confirmation that those reforms have taken firm root.
President Jocelyn Ucanda has previously pointed to the certificate as key to unlocking new sponsorship opportunities for the federation, noting that the absence of recognition had long made it difficult to attract corporate partners. With registration now secured under the tougher new framework, Netball Uganda enters a stronger position to pursue partnerships and support the She Cranes’ continued rise among Africa’s leading netball nations.
The stakes attached to this registration exercise go well beyond reputation. NCS has confirmed that, beginning with the 2026/27 financial year, only federations holding valid registration under the National Sports Act will qualify for government funding. Organisations that fail to secure registration risk losing government grants, official recognition, and access to NCS-administered programmes altogether, although their athletes may still find alternative support through bodies such as the Uganda Olympic Committee or Uganda Paralympic Committee.
Netball Uganda’s certificate, like those of its fellow compliant federations, will remain valid for one year and is subject to annual renewal, with the federation’s governance, financial conduct, and operations remaining under continuous NCS monitoring.
Not every federation has cleared the process. Seven organisations including Uganda Golf Union, Uganda Rugby, and Uganda Aquatics were found substantially compliant but await further verification, particularly around genuine grassroots participation levels. Several others face a final one-month remedial window or, in a handful of cases involving unresolved objections or allegedly falsified financial records, active investigation and potential revocation proceedings.
Against that backdrop, Netball Uganda’s clean bill of health stands out as a significant vote of confidence in the federation’s post-2023 recovery, reinforcing the sense among stakeholders that the sport’s governance, once a source of crisis, has become a foundation the federation can now build on.
