After successfully accomplishing the outspoken Project Cameroon 2019, Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) has set another realistic target – qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in 2026.
For starters, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be jointly hosted by three countries; United States of America, Canada and Mexico.
Moses Magogo, the FUFA boss revealed the plan to the media during a press conference held at their headquarters in Mengo, Kampala.
Moses Magogo, FUFA President as quoted by the FUFA websit
In 2015 after failing to qualify for the 2016 Africa Cup of Nations, we sat down as FUFA to lay down a strategy that would help us achieve that target. We held a symposium and designed out 8 key aspects and indeed we managed to obtain the set target. That is done but football continues, therefore, as FUFA we are now setting a new target and that is qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, USA and Canada. This does not mean that we will not participate and compete in the tournaments between now and 2026. We have to play at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations and qualifiers for subsequent campaigns plus CHAN and the 2022 World Cup. Like we set our target at 2019 AFCON and achieved success much earlier by playing at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, we shall maintain the same focus and commitment. It does not end at just saying we want to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. There must be efforts done to achieve the said targets. We believe every stakeholder including government, FUFA, players,coaches, sponsors and fans has a role to play.’
FLIP Strategy:
FUFA has also designed a special strategy called FLIP (Funding, Labor, Infrastructure and Policies), aimed to help Uganda improve not only the game of football but the sports sector in general.
Magogo
We have devised a policy called FLIP that stands for Funding, Labor, Infrastructure and Policies. Those are the four aspects we think can transform the sports sector into a more viable venture and we shall try to sell it to government
FUFA and other sports federations in conjunction with the Parliament of Uganda are in the process of formulating a new sports law.
Meanwhile, the President of Uganda Yoweri Kaguta Museveni rewarded the Uganda Cranes team that qualified to the 2019 AFCON tournament with a hefty cash reward of Shs 3,719, 850,000.
