UNF lied about Mugerwa sacking

Mugerwa (R) looks away as new coach Rashid Mubiru (L) shakes hands with his assistant Vincent Kiwanuka at Cambridge International School on Saturday. PHOTO BY ISMAIL KEZAALA

What you need to know:

Netball. UNF announced last week they fired long-serving Mugerwa on the advice of the International Netball Federation.

KAMPALA. Uganda Netball Federation (UNF) president, Susan Anek, yesterday insisted the body made the right decision to change the national team coach three weeks to the start of the World Cup in Australia next month. This is after it emerged that the international body did not order the suspension of Mugerwa as alleged by Anek last week. “The international body asked us to drop him (coach Fred Mugerwa) following his criticism of match officials at the tournament we had in South Africa (Diamond Challenge),” Anek said in an interview last week.
The 58-year-old coaching veteran openly criticized match officials in an interview after Uganda lost to 56-39 to South Africa in their second game of the tournament last month.
“There have also been other incidents in the league and during the Inter-Forces Games,” she added. A source close to the federation, however, told Daily Monitor yesterday that the decision to drop Mugerwa was taken as a preventive measure rather than an order from the international body. “It is true we received a complaint from the international body warning us about our coach’s behavior and since we could not guarantee that it would not happen again we decided to drop him,” the source explained.
When queried yesterday, Anek stated the federation had become intolerant of Mugerwa’s actions and thus heeded the international body’s advice. “Prevention is better than cure. We have been very tolerant with him, it is time to let go,” she said. In a meeting held after their training at Gems Cambridge School on Saturday to introduce new coach Rashid Mubiru, however, assistant team captain, Florence Amono, asked the federation to allow Mugerwa travel with the team to Australia.
“We know the federation’s financial situation is not good but it is our humble request that you let him travel and benefit from the hard work he has invested in us,” Amono told the executive committee, her tone seemingly summing up the low-spirited atmosphere. In her response, Anek told the team that the federation was looking at the option of having some of the dropped players travel for the tournament that starts August 7-16. Mugerwa started coaching She Cranes in 1998 and had stood by the team even in difficult times when they had to travel for tournaments without adequate funding.
He has also handled Uganda Railways, Police, Old Kampala, St Peter’s Nsambya SS, Crescent High, Mityana Central College, Kyebambe Girls, Kaboyo SS and St Mary’s SS Kitende among others. He guided the She Cranes to gold at the 2013 Five Nations Cup in Singapore.

Coached She Cranes as they qualified for 2015 Netball World Cup.

SHE CRANES WC FIXTURES
August 07
Uganda vs. Zambia
August 08
Uganda vs. Fiji
August 10
Uganda vs. Wales

GROUP A
Australia
Barbados
New Zealand
Trinidad & Tobago

GROUP B
England
Jamaica
Samoa
Scotland

GROUP C
Malawi
Singapore
South Africa
Sri Lanka

GROUP D
Fiji
Uganda
Wales
Zambia