CHIMPREPORTS
Former Aruu County Member of Parliament Samuel Odonga Otto “regrets” all the energy he wasted in Uganda’s politics and believes he would be far had he spent most of the time in sports.
But, better late than never. After a lengthy and hectic political journey, Otto seems to have found solace in sports and has already embarked on becoming an expert in sports law, regulations and dispute resolution.
A lawyer by profession, Otto was this year admitted to Real Madrid Graduate School in Madrid, Spain as a student in the International Master In Sports Law. The academic program which began on October 22nd will run until 15th July 2022.
“In life you have to be dynamic. I have been here for months and there is a lot in the world of sports more than politics. If all the energy I invested in politics I had put in sports, I would be far, but better late than never,” Otto told ChimpReports in an interview.
“Sports speaks a language that young people understand, you can find many youths interested in sport but not politics. We need to deliberately invest in sports to empower the millions of young people in Uganda who have lost opportunities in it.”
The nine-month program targets law graduates from all around the world who want to develop their professional careers in the field of international sports law and offers students a solid knowledge of the organization of sports, their rules and regulations and their dispute resolution mechanisms.
“We do so many things and we don’t specialize, greed and uncalled for accumulation defines us Africans. But importantly we need to put heads down and see how to tap the opportunities.”
The 44-year old wants to take advantage of the opportunity to study a distinct international programme that enables one to succeed as a sports lawyer in international federations, law firms, sports clubs, professional leagues, anti-doping organisations and sports representation agencies.
“Our professional players don’t get good deals because they don’t have internationally recognized sports lawyers to represent them. The gap has to be bridged,” the former parliamentarian maintains.
On comparison of sports management in Africa and Europe, Otto says football in Europe has turned into a culture.
“There are more football pitches, sports arenas and gyms than Churches. People here work for good health for us we pray for good health and the money football raises through TV rights and collections etc is a lot.”
“For example each African federation gets about USD 6 million (14bn) yearly from FIFA grants, however, in Europe an average poor club or federations can raise about USD 100m million (370bn) annually. So sports is at another level.”
He commends Madrid as a great area with such courses only offered in Spain at Real Madrid and Geneva at FIFA headquarters, saying, “so the trend need specialized skills, we only have two such qualified lawyers in Uganda and about 15 in Africa.”
“Let me observe Africa from a European perspective. I will give most of my time to sports. It unites the youth in a language they understand.”
Otto is among the two representatives from the African continent to have enrolled for International Master In Sports Law (another one from Nigeria) in a class of 21 students.
The International Master In Sports Law boasts of a unique teaching staff composed of experts working for the most relevant stakeholders in the field of sports law.
Before the climax of the program, participants will head to FIFA head office in Geneva, Switzerland for part of the course and will do internship at Laliga giants Real Madrid FC.
“All will go well here in Spain with my international networks selling one or two players to, For example in Madrid or Manchester United is better than money going to 5 local governments in Uganda. So we keep our hands crossed.”
source https://perilofafrica.com/2021/12/odonga-otto-in-madrid-for-international-master-in-sports-law-enrollment.html