Coach Basena in catch22 position

Lucky or unlucky? It is increasingly unlikely that interim Cranes coach Basena will retain his job with others like Ssimbwa in contention. PHOTO BY EDDIE CHICCO

What you need to know:

  • Panic button. Fear seemingly moved Basena o field an off-colour Farouk Miya ahead of Muzamir Mutyaba as Uganda Cranes drew a blank against the Black Stars at home.

The recent decision by Fufa to name African football icon Kalusha Bwalya as head of a vetting committee that will anoint the next Cranes coach delivered a veiled but nonetheless withering rebuke of Ugandan coaches. It particularly - one would imagine - dealt a seemingly impossible hand to interim Cranes coach Moses Basena.
Basena may well make the shortlist from which the new Cranes coach will be cherry-picked on November 15, but chances of him striking the bull’s eye are quite diminished.
Bwalya’s appointment to the vetting committee should be seen for what it is - a fervent denunciation of Basena in all but name. The appointment speaks to the coach that the Ugandan FA has in mind - a coach whom from the looks of things will be anything but Ugandan.
It should be noted that many decent Ugandan coaches - Basena inclusive - are up for grabs in the grand scheme of things. Jackson Mayanja and George ‘Best’ Nsimbe have for instance been sent on gardening leave, and would both literally and figuratively jump at the chance of taking on The Cranes’ coaching reins.
The two Sams - Timbe and Ssimbwa - are also available, if anything to take a phone call, but just don’t hold your breath.

Indigenous coach
The urge to have an indigenous coach hop on the saddle seems to be as palpable as it is overbearing. Basena’s audition did little to make the urge less intense. Given the weight of the job and the task at hand, Basena wore the responsibility as Cranes coach well, qualifying for the 2018 African Nations Championship - but only just.
He was on the verge of another big moment in his career, but ended up pulling marginally short of securing a ticket to the 2018 Fifa World Cup.
That Basena’s measured determination never really bore fruit in the 2018 Fifa World Cup was anything but an embarrassment. Giving powerhouses like Egypt and Ghana a run for their money is no mean feat.
Basena will always look back fondly on the 1-0 win he orchestrated over Egypt as well as - whisper it - the goalless draw at home to Ghana.
Unfortunately for Basena, his two high moments as Cranes coach moved the dial on the fear that perennially grips local coaches. Fear moved him to field an off-colour Farouk Miya ahead of Muzamir Mutyaba as Uganda Cranes drew a blank against the Black Stars (and with it put paid to any chances of going to Russia).
Before, uncertainty was written all over Basena’s decision to send Milton Karisa on the pitch as Uganda closed in on a famous win against Egypt. Cranes captain Denis Onyango not only furiously opposed the decision but also managed to convince his coach to think twice. Fear could be seen in Basena’s eyes as he went back on his decision. He wasn’t sure about what he intended to pull off – a no-no in the coaching realm.
Often times, Ugandan coaches are held back by this subtle feeling that is induced by perceived danger. Fear holds many of them back, stealing one of the things that typify good coaches - boldness.

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Is substance abuse rearing its ugly head?

Ugandan sport always manages to shock by harbouring some kind of hostility toward basic decency. Most of its problems, as well as some of its appeal, come from the stated hostility. Take the decision to outfit doping sparingly: it has been the centre piece of Ugandan sport for years on end.
Discussions about abusing contraband substances have therefore increasingly become modulated to the point of being a taboo subject here in Uganda. When the eyes of the anti-doping system flicker open and deliver a deeply fatal blow to drug cheats, euphemisms are used to douse any probing questions.
One footballer, who was caught unawares by a random check in the run up to the 2011 African Nations Championship, became the recipient of a timely face-saver after his ‘sudden retirement’ was attributed to debilitating heart problem.
Because our thoughts, language and framing of all things doping are extremely unclear, substance abuse is to Ugandan sport what sex was to nineteenth-century Vienna: many people do it but nobody talks about it.
The culture of silence, denial and masking has served as a breeding ground for substance abusers who always shiver with pleasure at their luck. A coach plying his trade in the Uganda Premier League recently told your columnist about how addiction to energy drinks is spreading exponentially.
One player, he noted partly with derision and disbelief, has piles of cans in his car, oblivious that energy drinks are listed as stimulants by World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and can make the banned list when used in competition.
Here is what’s worrying: energy drinks are from the looks of it being used in competitions here in Uganda. Vipers SC proprietor Lawrence Mulindwa recently revealed - in one of his trademark tirades - that SC Villa players littered the St Mary’s Stadium dressing room with energy drink cans. Villa players are believed to have quenched their thirst after an absorbing first half with a number of energy drinks.
It should be noted that although high-caffeine drinks increase the heart rate, their categorisation as stimulants does not currently register doping offences. They, however, shouldn’t be used in competitions. Their risks are also plain to see.
It’s perhaps no surprise that health campaigners routinely deride energy drinks for the unseemly number of risks they pose to the body.
A series of dialogues about the potential dangers of the drinks would help Ugandan sports personalities make informed decisions. Sensitisation about why they should avoid substances on Wada’s banned list would also suffice. Ugandan sports personalities should know that the lack of concern for these basic dos and don’ts can cost one dear as one player in the Uganda Premier League learnt last season.
But such is how the issue of substance abuse remains a taboo in our society that the identity of the player and the substance he abused remains unknown to date. This obviously has to change.

What we know...

We now know that the draw for the 2018 African Nations Championship or Chan will be held on November 17 in Rabat, Morocco.
We also know that the draw will take place in Morocco because the north African country was named host nation weeks after Kenya was stripped of the right of staging the championship’s fifth edition.
Uganda will be one of the 16 nations that will be pooled in four groups of four teams during the draw on November 17.
We know that Uganda will be desperate to get a ‘group of life’ as it seeks to make it to the business end of the championship having failed on three previous occasions. Good Luck, Cranes!