Olympics in America is a Golden Target

By Jjagwe Robert

Many people, especially our Athletes (Players) dream of visiting the United States of America (USA) also usually called the Land of Opportunities as well as arguably the most developed and most powerful nation in the world. The next Olympic Games of 2028 will be held in Los Angeles, USA. The city of Los Angeles (LA) presents the extra allure of Hollywood which is the home of the greatest American Movies ever made.

The biggest challenge with visiting the USA lies in getting the Entry Visa. It is estimated that about 4 in every 10 USA Visa Applications in Uganda are rejected. It is not the USA’s desire to refuse to grant Entry Visas but many applicants fail to meet the Visa Application requirements. Such requirements include a good and genuine reason to visit the USA, a good bank statement, good travel history, Etc. Sport is one field where such requirements are usually not so strictly considered especially when a competition is clearly scheduled to take place in the USA.

By agreeing to host the Olympics in LA 2028, the USA has in effect agreed to grant a Visa to all Athletes who shall qualify to participate in those Olympics. This is ideally an automatic Visa Approval without any consideration of the strict requirements mentioned above.

The USA is known to issue 2 or 4 year Visas meaning that a holder of a USA Visa can go in and out of the USA as many times as they wish so long as they have a valid reason and their Visa is still valid within the 2 or 4 year time duration. From business opportunities to good incomes and ease of blending in, America is surely a Land of Opportunities that can be exploited even after the Olympic Games have ended.

America has a lot of Private Sports sponsors and investors who are always looking for talented Athletes. The Olympics being the highest level of competition for most Sports in the World attract some of the very best Athletes on the planet and these will definitely have the attention of the scouts who identify talented athletes for Sports investors. Such opportunities will be in plenty at the LA 2028 Olympics. It will be easy for the highly talented Athletes to sign good and lucrative contracts in LA.

LA 2028 has opened a door that Athletes, Coaches and ordinary Ugandans can use to visit the mighty America. This is the time for Ordinary Ugandans to invest in Athletes so that when such Athletes qualify for LA 2028, then their Coaches as well as investors can travel along with them to LA. The New Sports Act of Uganda now allows investors to enter into legally binding sponsorship contracts with Athletes.

The USA will have an obligation to issue Visas to fans or supporters who genuinely want to travel to LA to watch the 2028 Olympics. For all those times when Ugandan Athletes, Coaches and Fans have wanted to visit the USA, this is the Golden Chance that God has put before them. Athletes and Coaches will need to start working very hard and early to achieve this target by first and foremost qualifying for those Olympics.

Ordinary Ugandans who wish to support Athletes to qualify for those Olympic Games also need to avoid doing this too late. The best year to start preparing for these Games is this very year 2024. I would also urge government of Uganda to join the mission to qualify as many Athletes as possible so as to tap into the sponsorship hunts and funds that LA 2028 will put on the table as the same will eventually translate into foreign income for Uganda. LA 2028 is a Golden Opportunity which if targeted properly will yield fruits for all parties involved from government to players, coaches, parents, clubs and Investors.

The Writer is the President of the Uganda Table Tennis Association (UTTA) and Secretary General of the Union of Uganda Sports Federations and Associations (UUSFA)