Chance to blood home-grown coaches shouldn’t be bungled
Poist. The highly-rated forward Bashir Mutanda (R) is expected in the starting eleven ahead of the 2019 COSAFA Cup. Photo by Eddie Chicco
What you need to know:
- While this column does not think little of the aforesaid concerns, it recognises the mitigating factors not least having Desabre’s charges pitch camp in the United Arab Emirates.
Last week began with spectacular promise for Ugandan football thanks in no small measure to Fufa’s decision to split 35 players into two squads. The decision has been widely hailed by many observers if anything because it shows Ugandan football cannot be accused of grappling with slim pickings.
It is no mean feat having two separate squads prepare at one go for tournaments of high repute like the forthcoming Africa Cup of Nations finals and Cosafa Cup. As Sebastien Desabre runs the rule over the squad preparing for the former, Abdallah Mubiru will hope to make a splash at the latter in South Africa’s port city of Durban.
That’s not to say the spoils of success have not carried seeds for disunion. A tiny sliver has come out to fiercely question Fufa’s reconsideration of priorities. The thinking of these naysayers is that Desabre’s charges have been denied a chance to get some useful game time under the belt. They go on to hold that the Cosafa Cup would be of greater utility to a side bracing for the Africa Cup of Nations finals than one seeking to make the grade for the 2020 Africa Nations Championship (Chan).
While this column does not think little of the aforesaid concerns, it recognises the mitigating factors not least having Desabre’s charges pitch camp in the United Arab Emirates. Also sending the ‘Chan Cranes’ to Durban means that Fufa cannot be accused of putting no effort into growing the capacity of home-grown coaches. One can only hope that the local football governing body does not flip flop by again asking Desabre to call the shots during the 2020 Chan qualifiers.
