Cranes need Shs1.8b for Afcon clash
Godfrey ‘Jaja Walu’ Walusimbi controls the ball during Cranes World Cup qualifier against Togo at Namboole in November. PHOTO BY ISMAIL KEZAALA
What you need to know:
Soccer. Coach Micho Sredejovic’s side face Burkina Faso in a double header next month but Fufa president Moses Magogo is worried results might not come their way with poor facilitation.
With four games remaining in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Group D qualifiers, Uganda Cranes are in good stead to make the finals for the first time since 1978.
Coach Micho Sredejovic’s side lead the group with a maximum six points ahead of Botswana and Burkina Faso on three apiece. Comoros, without a point, tail the group. Two wins and a draw should be enough to deliver Cranes to the finals with a double header against Burkina Faso next up on the menu.
Fufa president Moses Magogo is, however, worried Uganda may not get the necessary results from the two games, which might hinder the team’s qualification to the finals in Gabon next year.
“The reasons we are not qualifying since 1978 might necessary not be sporting; going to the field and scoring that goal or failing to score it,” Magogo said during Fufa’s weekly press conference in Mengo yesterday.
In November last year, Cranes trounced Togo 4-0 on aggregate in a double header to make the group stages of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. Magogo attributed that success to the support they received from State House. Besides chartering a plane for the team, Museveni also paid allowances to the Cranes and bought air tickets for foreign-based players.
Fufa need $530,000 (about Shs1.8b) to prepare the team for that Burkina Faso away engagement alone. Because Cranes face Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou on March 26 and host the return leg three days later at Namboole, Magogo feels they must travel by charter.
“Logistically, we need the same environment like we had against Togo or even better to get past Burkina Faso,” Magogo noted. “It’s not practical for the national team to travel by public means, play a game on a Saturday and play the return leg on a Tuesday.”
“We have checked with all airlines and we have put in a booking but the earliest we can arrive here is on Monday lunch time yet we play on a Tuesday.”
More worrying for Magogo is the fact that the opponents seem to have their logistical issues sorted out.
“Burkina Faso has already booked here, in Sheraton. They are coming by a charter. When we play on Saturday, they will be here by Sunday. That means the visiting team will be here waiting for the home team to play a game on a Tuesday,” Magogo lamented.
“As a country we have a desire to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations, but getting there will depend on how much we invest in the campaign as a country.”
The Fufa boss stressed that the federation alone can’t mobilise enough resources to run the qualification campaign smoothly. “We can still prepare the team and it goes and it plays but we can’t have the competitive edge considering that out opponents are heavily financed,” he reasoned. In their last qualifier, Burkinabe were stunned 1-0 by Botswana and will play like wounded lions against Cranes.
