Honorable Moses Magogo, the president of the Federation of Uganda Football Association, FUFA has announced his country’s decision to withdraw from the 2022 African Nations Championship, CHAN in Algeria barely three weeks before the start of the competition.
In a shocking Tweet published this morning, president Magogo who doubles as the vice president of the CHAN competition revealed that non-provision of funds has prompted the decision.
“It is sad. Like for the U23, we are left with no further option but to withdraw the @UgandaCranes from CHAN finals because @mofpedU has not provided the funds as appropriated by @Parliament_Ug,” he explained.
The decision means Uganda are out of group B, thus making it a three nations group with Senegal, DR Congo and Cote D’Ivoire left in contention except Tanzania who lost to Uganda in the final qualifying rounds returns to the competition.
Such decisions usually attract a two editions suspension for the country in question plus a hefty financial penalty from CAF but the institution is yet to comment as this case just happened.
Magogo is ready for the sanctions given the situation is out of his control, but tables his words of apology.
“The sanctions to Uganda will affect the future if we dont take the hard decision now. Sorry for the players and coaches who qualified the team, but it is the moment to face the reality.”
It is the second time in few months a Uganda team goes this route for the same reason. Three months ago the Under-23s pulled out of the AFCON qualifiers citing the same cause.
The first ever CHAN tournament with more than 16 nations will take place from 13 January to 4 February 2023 in Algeria with 17 participation member associations as it stands.
Source: kick442.com – Cameroon
