This year has been a very busy one in Sports and Eagle Online looks back at some of the most notable events and moments that made headlines in Uganda and all-over the world.
Some of the main events were the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, the World Athletics Championships held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States and the 2022 Commonwealth Games Birmingham, England.
on July 25, Ugandan long-distance Oscar Chelimo won bronze in the men’s 5000m final at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon (US). It was his first senior medal for Uganda at a major championship having earlier won bronze at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Argentina and bronze at the 2019 World Cross-country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark.
Joshua Cheptegei retained his men’s world 10,000 metres title in a thrillingly unpredictable final at Hayward Field, taking gold in 27 min 27.43 sec at the World Athletics Championships on July 17. However, he picked up an injury and pulled out of the 2022 Commonwealth games in Birmingham that took place in August.
Team Uganda said goodbye to Birmingham with a total of five medals – including three Gold. Jacob Kiplimo stepped up to complete a rare long-distance double (10,000m & 5,000m gold) and become only the fourth man to achieve the feat.
Before Kiplimo’s triumph, compatriot Victor Kiplangat had opened Uganda’s medals account with a historic gold in the men’s marathon.
Peruth Chemutai scooped a bronze medal in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase final while Boxer Teddy Nakimuli also settled for bronze having lost her light flyweight semi-final fight against Northern Ireland’s Carly McNaul.
Dominic Otuchet was re-elected unopposed as the President for the Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF). His fourth term as the federation’s president started on January 31 following the federation’s elective general assembly. Otuchet took over the role from Dan Tamwesigire in 2010.
Uganda was named host for the 2023 Africa Netball Cup following a decision at the Netball Africa General sitting held in South Africa on August 23. The last time the event was held in Kampala was in 2017 when the She Cranes emerged champions for the first time. They then went on to defend the championship in 2018 in Lusaka, Zambia.
The She Cranes also secured a place in the 2023 Netball World Cup based on their ranking position. The top five teams, excluding the hosts qualify automatically for the World Cup. Uganda (6th) qualified, due to South Africa (5th) pre-qualifying as hosts.
Uganda were pooled in Group D alongside New Zealand, Trinidad & Tobago, and Singapore. The Netball World Cup will be held in Cape Town, South Africa from July 28th July to the 6th August 2023.
Former Uganda Cranes captain Denis Masinde Onyango was named in the CAF Champions League Team of the Decade. Fans voted Onyango in between the sticks for the period spanning 2010 to 2020. CAF announced the team on 5 October 2022.
Former KCCA FC head coach Mike Hillary Mutebi bounced back into management at Rwandan side AS Kigali on a two year contract in January. However he was sacked after serving for only three months due to poor results. He managed 3 wins, 3 losses and 7 draws in the 13 games, scoring 15 goals and conceding 12.
The Uganda U-20 Men’s National Football Team, The Hippos, qualified for next year’s U-20 Africa Cup of Nations. This will be Uganda’s second successive appearance at the final tournament. In 2021, they reached the final on their maiden appearance but lost to Ghana. The tournament will be played in Egypt, between 19 February and 11 March 2023.
Vipers SC defender Murushid Juuko, by then at Express, retired from International football, the player confirmed on 13th January. He retired capped 39 times with the national team, having scored one goal, and played at two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.
Ambrose Tashobya was appointed the new chairman for National Council of Sports (NCS) for the period 2022-2024. He replaced Dr. Donald Rukare whose two-year tenure expired. Tashobya is a former Vice president at the Uganda Olympic Committee and former president of the Federation of Basketball Association. 2012 Olympics gold medalist Stephen Kiprotich was selected among the board members.
Fred Mudoola was appointed as the new Rugby Cranes head coach, the Uganda Rugby Union confirmed on March 4. The former Rugby Cranes and Kobs player replaced the late Robert Seguya aka Soggy who passed on in December 2021 after a long illness.
The FUBA National Basketball League (NBL) season returned on Friday, March 11, 2022 after a two-year interruption that was caused by the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. City Oilers won the championship on October 15 over the Namuwongo Blazers, sealing their eighth Championship in eight seasons with 4-3 Finals series win.
Vipers Sports Club clinched their fifth Uganda Premier League title on April 30 following a 3-0 victory over Express. The Venoms will represent Ugandan in next year’s CAF Champions League group stage after eliminating Congo’s TP Mazembe on penalties. They were drawn in Group C alongside Morocco’s Raja Casablanca, Horoya Athletic Club of Guinea and Tanzania’s Simba Sports Club.
BUL FC won their first ever Uganda Cup after beating Vipers SC 3-1 in the final played at Booma Grounds in Masindi on June 12th. Striker Karim Ndugwa grabbed a brace while Simon Peter Oketch scored the other for the Alex Isabirye coached side. Captain Halid Lwaliwa scored the consolation for the Venoms.
Africa Cup of Nations
Senegal claimed their first Africa Cup of Nations title with a 4-2 penalty shoot-out victory over seven-time winners Egypt on February 6th.
Sadio Mane scored the winning spot-kick – after missing one in the opening minutes of the game. Mane was eventually named Africa’s Men’s Player of the Year at the CAF Awards 2022.
Senegal coach Aliou Cisse, who was captain of the side in 2002 when they lost the final on penalties to Cameroon after a goalless draw, having missed his kick in the shoot-out, redeemed himself by helping the nation make history.
South Africa won their first Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) title with final win over Morocco.
Banyana Banyana striker Hildah Magaia scored twice as they claimed their first Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title by beating hosts Morocco 2-1 on July 23rd.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) re-opened bidding for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after stripping Guinea of the right to host the competition. Caf president Patrice Motsepe was in the Guinean capital Conakry on October 3rd when he announced that the 24-team tournament will be removed because of a lack of suitably advancing infrastructure and facilities.
Guinea had nearly a decade to prepare for the finals, having originally been named as host of the 2023 Nations Cup in 2014, prior to then being asked to host in 2025 instead.
Champions League 2022
Real Madrid were crowned European champions for an incredible 14th time following their 1-0 win over Liverpool in the 2022 Champions League final played on May 28 in Paris, France.
Vinicius Junior’s second-half goal coupled with a man-of-the-match display from goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois ensured Carlo Ancelotti’s side followed up their La Liga triumph with victory in Paris.
Russia banished from international sport following Ukraine invasion
Russia, a country that viewed sport as a source of great national pride, was cast out by the sporting community in just a matter of days following the Ukraine invasion.
Among the sanctions, World Rugby suspended Russia from all “international rugby and cross-border rugby activities” and the Rugby Union of Russia also had its membership suspended. It meant Russia will no longer be allowed to qualify for the 2023 World Cup.
FIFA and UEFA announced in a joint statement on February 28 that they had suspended all Russian international and club teams from their competitions “until further notice.” They were banned from participating in the EURO 2024 tournament.
Russia was not able to play its World Cup playoff against Poland scheduled for March 24 – and missed out on football’s showpiece event as a result. They were also stripped of the Champions League final in St. Petersburg and Formula One dropped the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi.
The World Athletics Council announced new sanctions on March 1 banning all athletes from Russia from competing in World Athletics.
International
Manchester United has announced the appointment of Erik ten Hag as their new Manager until June 2025, with the option to extend for a further year. The Dutchman took over from interim boss Ralf Rangnick. He became United’s fifth permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
Chelsea’s £4.25 billion sale to a consortium led by American investor Todd Boehly and private equity firm Clearlake Capital was completed on May 31. The club was put up for sale in March before previous owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned over his links to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Fifa announced that president Gianni Infantino will stand unopposed to be re-elected for a third term in the post. He will be re-elected at the 73rd Fifa Congress in Kigali, Rwanda on 16 March 2023.
The 52-year-old Swiss-Italian became head of football’s governing body when he succeeded Sepp Blatter in February 2016, and was re-elected in 2019. Fifa said that “following the call for election” in March 2022, its member associations had only proposed Infantino as a candidate.
Argentina won their third World Cup in an extraordinary final on December 18 at Lusail Stadium in Qatar as they beat France 4-2 on penalties after a 3-3 draw.
Lionel Messi scored twice while Kylian Mbappe grabbed a hat-trick for France to bring the holders back from 2-0 and 3-2 down.
