Cranes ready to get going again

Just days after the National Council of Sports (NCS) General Secretary Patrick Ogwel hinted at sports steadily being on its way back to action, international football also looks truly on course to returning.

Caf, on Wednesday, approved dates for the resumption of the 2021 Nations Cup Cameroon qualifiers and the group stages of the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 tests, with Match Days 3 and 4 now between November 9 and 17.

The final round of Afcon qualifiers will be played between March 22 and 30 next year. The confirmation has calmed anxiety amongst the football fraternity that is still reeling from a Covid-19 enforced lockdown since March.

But with the government now open to sporting authorities steadily devising ways of reopening, and Caf and Fifa confirming new dates for international football resumption, Cranes coach Johnny McKinstry is a happier man.

“It’s great news,” McKinstry told Daily Monitor, “And we have been doing a lot in this lockdown. So when we get back into camp, our players will be among the best prepared in Africa.

“Everything in the background is set and ready. So now that we’ve got the camp in November, and also lets not forget that depending on the situation with Covid-19 globally and across Africa, Caf and Fifa have also said that the October window is available for national associations to use if they want to.

“So in preparation for the November games, we might also want to consider if it’s possible to use the October window as well.

“Of course there are a lot of factors to consider, I mean what is the situation with travel, with the borders in the rest of Africa and in Uganda.”

The Northern Irishman added: “Already we are putting plans together for option A, option B, option C. We are looking at what match days we want to request for the South Sudan game… You know, all of the logistical side of things that we can now start putting in place.

“Now that we have those dates, we have a target to start working with. We want to collect maximum points because that will move us closer to qualification.”

Dictating proceedings
The Cranes top Group B of 2021 Afcon qualifiers with four points from two games, with Burkina Faso and Malawi following and South Sudan bottom. The finals will be hosted by Cameroon in January 2022.

Elsewhere, new dates for the Fifa World Cup 2022 qualifiers have also been confirmed, Match Days 1 and 2 to be played between May 31and June 15. Matches Days 3 and 4 are due August 30 and September 7.

The penultimate final two rounds of World Cup qualifiers are October next year, with playoffs the following month. Uganda are in Group E of the World Cup qualifiers together with Mali, Kenya and Rwanda.