The Government of Uganda has granted the release of funds for FUFA to work on the naturalisation of players to feature for Uganda Cranes in the near future.
FUFA President Hon. Moses Hassim Magogo, while appearing on CBS FM Akaati Kebyemizannyo show on Wednesday, confirmed that the Government will release 1.5 billion shillings for the naturalisation of players.
“I want to confirm that we have had engagements with Government for naturalisation of players who have an attachment with Uganda but have been raised in Europe and elsewhere. The money we asked for is 1.5 billion, and that will be given to us,” he stated.
Magogo indicated that several countries across Africa and beyond have taken this route to identify players who come with better quality.
“When we told the public we want this money, there was a lot of discontent, but I want to tell you that this is what other countries like Morocco, Senegal and others are doing. If you look at our National Team currently, you can see that there are several players like Elio Capradossi who have agreed to play for Uganda, and you can see that their quality is better.”
The FUFA President also revealed that the process has been ongoing and there are several players they are talking to.
“If you look at what other countries are investing, the money we asked for is way less but we have been doing work behind the curtains, and negotiations are going on. FUFA appointed Mr Mathias Ndawula, who moves across Europe to try and identify players who have an attachment to Uganda. Hopefully, by the next international window in June, we might see some new faces.”
Devine Mukasa, Arthur Okonkwo, Bashir Humphreys and Joshua Muwana are some of the players who have an attachment to Uganda.
What is the point if they don’t even get together during FIFA windows like the current one?
More complete teams like Nigeria are out there meeting and fine tuning; While the Cranes are waiting for qualifiers.
FUFA needs to learn what it takes to be a winner. They keep getting in their way and stepping on their shoe laces.
This has been long overdue, the biggest challenge we have is to always think about money before we even know what to do with it..
Just watch the space, they will eat that money before anything is done, because that’s actually the reason for asking for money…not for the so called Naturalization of players..