Denis Masinde Onyango has finally spoken out on what transpired in Egypt as Uganda Cranes staged a strike prior to the round of 16 clash against Senegal.
In an interview with Soccerladuma issue 1142, the Uganda Cranes captain blamed FUFA for the fracas and also admitted it’s a problem with African federations.
“Let me confess that we did strike,” Onyango admitted when asked about what transpired in Cairo. “It’s a problem within African federations. We just don’t prepare well enough. We don’t anticipate for certain things,” he explained.
“You see when we left Uganda for Abu Dhabi, we agreed on certain things. But when you want things in particular with footballers, you have to be specific and quite transparent with players.
“You don’t engage in a lot of mathematical jargon and that’s what federations across Africa need to understand.
“If we agree that you pay $ 4000 for a win, $ 2000 for a draw and nothing for a loss, why do always make things difficult in their implementation in such a simple issue.
Denis Onyango
The Mamelodi Sundowns custodian also explained that FUFA only gave the players the Code of Conduct on the way to Abu Dhabi and none of the FUFA officials bothered to explain anything to the players.
“When you draw up a Code of Conduct, you bring it to the players and let them read it through,” he asserted.
“But they (FUFA) brought the Code of Conduct around midnight when we were departing for the airport en-route to Abu Dhabi and they forced the players to sign the document which was an indication of something fishy.
We stayed in Abu Dhabi for three weeks for preparations and no one bothered to come out and explain to the players the code of Conduct and what it entailed. So what did you expect when it was time for them to pay up?
Denis Onyango
“They referred us to the code of conduct and do you think players care about the small print contained in the code of conduct?”
Onyango also revealed what was agreed in reference to bonuses for the draws and win.
“The bottom line is that we agreed with the federation that in the group stage, we would receive $ 4000 for a win and $ 2000 for a draw.
“And if we get out of the group stage, we would receive $ 6000 per game. We won and drew against DR Congo and Zimbabwe which qualified us to earn $ 6000.
“We were supposed to earn an additional $ 6000 for qualifying for the knockout stage but they informed us they had already paid us the $ 6000 and that’s when we took the decision to strike.
It remains to be seen whether FUFA will respond to Onyango’s claims but as a national team skipper, his words can’t be taken lightly.
Mutebi is a superb coach.