For the first time in Uganda’s football history after the Cranes sealed a second straight AFCON appearance the talk in town is not the joy of qualification.
But rather how it was done, many have jumped to the conclusion that the 3-0 loss against Tanzania on Sunday in Dar Es Salaam was allegedly fixed to allow Tanzania seal an AFCON spot for the first time in 39 years.
FUFA boss Moses Magogo rushed and released a statement on his social media page distancing himself and his staff from the loss stating the technical team is responsible and should explain.
“This is the worst result of the Uganda Cranes in my administration. No one can feel more disappointed than me. As administration we provided everything the technical team and players wanted “Magogo posted on his Facebook page
Magogo continued and pointed out what the Federation had done to make sure everything went as they wanted it too.
- All allowances and outstanding bonuses were fully paid before the match.
- The coach asked for a camp in Egypt, we provided it
- The coach has
full independent hand to select the team including the lineup. We have and will never interfere with the team callup and lineup - Bonuses of 2500 USD per player for the win and 1500 USD for a 0-0 draw were announced before the match of Tz
- Despite NCS not providing the funds required, the FUFA Administration mobilized funds and cleared everything outstanding before the match
• I want to listen to any explanation why it is not the coach and the team responsible for this dismal performance but the FUFA President and/or the administration
• Now is the time for the coaches to explain their selections and tactics but not before the match
• We will wait for the technical explanations from the technical team of the match.
Uganda headed into the game with 13 points from five games and
Several Ugandans took to various social media platforms expressing their disappointment and matters were not helped by Cranes coach Sebastian Desabre who named his team with more local based players than the usual starters.
Khalid Aucho and Murushid Juuko were replaced by Taddeo Lwanga and Chrizestom Ntambi respectively with Desabre saying after the game that it was a precaution to avoid suspensions ahead of the Nations Cup.
“We had to manage players with yellow cards like Aucho and Jjuuko because it’s very important to have the whole team during the first game of the Afcon,” Desabre said in the post-match press conference.
Actually the two missed Uganda’s first game against Ghana in Gabon through suspension, Uganda went ahead and lost the game 1-0.
Tanzanian’s qualification means East Africa will be represented by 4 nations at the showpiece which will run from 21st June to 19th July in Egypt.
