Fufa, Cranes must find a different lift at Kitende
Ready to roll. Fufa and Ministry of Health officials during inspection of St Mary’s Stadium, Kitende, in Early November, to ascertain the facility’s readiness to host heath-conscious games. Vipers SC will have to endure an empty stadium owing to the Covid-19 protocols, Saturday. PHOTO/JOHN BATANUDDE
What you need to know:
- The issue: Football crisis
- Our view: With the Covid-19 pandemic, which has killed many, forcing the government to ban fans, Uganda Cranes’ biggest motivators, from the stands, what will Fufa do to cheer the team?
The new normal. You have probably heard, read and seen it across the world in a year that we will all live to remember as the coronavirus pandemic has proved.
Workplaces have adapted or sunk. Even the smallest business that waited for customers now operates a delivery service. Offices are still half empty.
Sports is still under lockdown to fans, except for the developed economies that have found ways to create an artificial ambiance.
This Thursday, Uganda will have its first international sports engagement held here as the national team, the Uganda Cranes, host South Sudan in a 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying encounter.
It has been on hold since March as the world folded soon after the team was summoned to prepare for the aforementioned game.
The game is not at the usual Mandela National Stadium (Namboole) which is currently being used as Covid-19 treatment centre.
The Federation of Uganda Football Associations (Fufa) has had to seek refuge away from the national facility at the privately-owned St Mary’s Stadium, Kitende.
It will be very strange to play there for some of the more experienced players like Captain Denis Onyango.
Cranes have often been lifted by the cheering of the crowd at Namboole that has enabled them win a multitude of games. That proverbial 12th man has always been key.
Kitende will be different. You, the fans, are not welcome. The media will be limited as only 150 people will be allowed at the stadium on match day.
First world economics have used artificial noise, mannequins and covering the stands with exquisitely branded tarpaulins. It is now over to you, Fufa.
Having drawn away in Burkina Faso and beaten Malawi, Uganda Cranes are primed to qualify for a third successive Nations Cup tournament.
Last week, Fufa launched a social media campaign dubbed; #SupportUsSafelyFromHome. This is in line with football taking its first dive in following the Ministry of Health guidelines.
The players, most of whom are foreign-based, will have encountered the loud silence that Kitende will offer them in three days’ time.
For the lucky local-based who make the final team, it is a case of dusting cobwebs as they have not been active in eight months.
Players, of course, must always have their own personal motivation in order to excel. Coach Jonny McKinstry’s fiery speech before kick-off should only be intended to fill a half-full cup.
Thereafter, Fufa’s creative juices will then be put to test even without the digital inventions we have become accustomed to on television.
