David Otti (born 1940 - died 3 March 2011) was one of Uganda's most respected coaches and one of the most decorated persons in Ugandan football.

Career

Otti was born in

Gulu Gulu is a city in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is the commercial and administrative centre of Gulu District. The coordinates of the city of Gulu are 2°46'54.0"N 32°17'57.0"E. The city's distance from Kampala, Uganda's capital and large ...

, northern

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

and he died at the age of 71 on 3 March 2011 at Case MedCare Hospital in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

. Preliminary medical reports showed he succumbed to

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain ...

before his body was transferred to Mulago National Referral Hospital for a conclusive post-mortem. This was still on-going by press time. He was also battling with

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

, while he was still coach of

Express FC Express Football Club (abbreviated as Express) is a Ugandan professional football (soccer), football club from Kampala. The club previously played their home games at the Muteesa II Stadium, Muteesa II Wankulukuku Stadium,but recently shifted to ...

, a Ugandan football club. Otti's leg was amputated last May following a near four-year battle against diabetes. During his time, he coached all the top three Ugandan clubs - Express, KCC and SC Villa. He spread his wings across the region to work at Kenyan sides Volcano United and Gor Mahia (1981–83), Somalia's Mogadishu Municipal Council (1987–1990) and Rwanda's outfit APR (1995–96) plus serving as National Council of Sports (NCS) general secretary. It is at

where Otti is revered most having brought the club their first league title in almost two decades back in 1993. He also won three

Ugandan Cup The Uganda Cup is Uganda's main national cup competition in Football (soccer), football. This annual competition is open for member clubs of the Federation of Uganda Football Associations. The Uganda Cup is the second most prestigious competitio ...

titles while there

Otti is best remembered as one of the most successful coaches in Ugandan football and led all giant clubs in Ugandan Football that include Express,

SC Villa Sports Club Villa is a professional football club based in Kampala, Uganda, that competes in the Uganda Premier League. Overview Sports Club Villa had humble beginnings in 1975, playing under the name Nakivubo Boys. The club was renamed N ...

and KCC FC to multiple titles, and was successful both with attacking and defensive tactics. Otti played as a defender. His career began in the 1960s, playing for Bitumastic and the Uganda national team, including the

1968 African Cup of Nations The 1968 African Cup of Nations was the sixth edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa (Confederation of African Football, CAF). It was hosted by Ethiopia. The field expanded to eight teams, split into ...

. He began his coaching career in 1973. He also coached the Uganda Cranes, Uganda's national team which qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations in Cairo (1974) and Ethiopia (1976). He also briefly had short coaching spells in Somalia and Rwanda.

Personal life

David Otti was married to Faith, and had five children, Richard Otti, Juddy Akello Olunga, Leonard Odong, David Ochan, and Jackie Otti. He was buried in Pece.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otti, David 1940 births 2011 deaths People from Gulu District Sportspeople from Northern Region, Uganda Ugandan men's footballers Men's association football defenders Uganda men's international footballers Ugandan football managers Uganda national football team managers 1962 African Cup of Nations players 1968 African Cup of Nations players 1976 African Cup of Nations managers Ugandan expatriate sportspeople in Kenya Expatriate football managers in Kenya Ugandan expatriate sportspeople in Rwanda Expatriate football managers in Rwanda Ugandan expatriate sportspeople in Somalia Expatriate football managers in Somalia