Uganda Cranes has withdrawn from the African Nations Championship (CHAN) finals due to be played in Algeria from January 8th to January 31st, 2023.Uganda Crane qualified for the CHAN finals after defeating Tanzania 4-0.
This is due to the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development’s failure to provide the necessary funds as appropriated by Parliament.
“As with the U23 team, we have been forced to withdraw the Uganda Cranes from the CHAN finals because the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development Uganda has not released funds as appropriated by Uganda Parliament,” FUFA president Moses Hassim Magogo said on Monday.
Magogo also apologized to the Uganda Cranes’ players and coaches, who toiled to clear the way for the team to qualify for the CHAN finals.
“I apologize to the players and coaches who qualified the team, but now is the time to face reality,” he said.
Speaker Anita Among, on November 8, 2022, tasked the ministry of finance with giving a timeline in which the funds for the first and second quarters will be released.
In response to Speaker Among, Evelyn Anite, Minister of State for Privatization and Investment, stated that the Ministry of Finance will commit to releasing funds in a timely manner.
She added that the reason they were not able to release the money in its entirety was because, in the first quarter, they had challenges with resource mobilization owing to the fact that they had just come from the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Magogo, the sanctions imposed on Uganda will have an impact on the future of FUFA operations and Uganda in general if they do not act quickly.
“The sanctions against Uganda will affect the future if we don’t take the hard decision now,” he said.