KAMPALA, UGANDA: Uganda Cranes will host their next TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Qualifier game against Algeria in Cameroon, the FUFA President Eng. Moses Hassim Magogo has confirmed.
Magogo while addressing journalists on Tuesday revealed that having no CAF-certified stadium in the country at the moment, FUFA had to find an option to beat CAF’s deadline which was due today.
“Today, Tuesday 25th April 2023 being the deadline set by CAF for all federations to submit names of venues to be used for the qualifiers due in June, the FUFA Executive has taken a decision to host the Uganda Cranes’ next AFCON 2023 home fixture against Algeria in Cameroon,” Magogo stated.
“We have opted for Cameroon because of several reasons including ease of access in terms of travel (Visas), they recently hosted AFCON and therefore have good stadiums and they are willing to give us a friendly match because there are three teams in their group and Cameroon will not have a game in the next window.”
Magogo said the decision came after FUFA inspected Mandela National Stadium on Monday 24th April 2023 and confirmed that the Stadium is not ready to host the qualifiers that resume in June.
“We had hope and assurance that the game against Algeria will be played at Mandela National Stadium but the progress has been slow and even the basic facilities needed have not been put in place. We had requested CAF to play behind closed doors considering that the pitch and dressing rooms would be ready but even this has failed.”
The FUFA President described latest ongoing works at the Stadium FUFA as very slow and insensitive to cries of the public to be able to host the matches in Uganda.
“As Parliament, we released 97 billion to have Namboole refurbished but I can confirm the people doing the work do not have the capacity to build a stadium and the earlier government realises this, the better. Almost everything that has been done so far is a waste of money.” Magogo stated.
“I call upon the relevant government authorities to urgently cancel the contracts of the contractors and supervisors and immediately procure experienced service providers in stadium construction even if it means being obtained from outside Uganda.”
He added that the country is likely to have a delayed project, substandard work and without value for money and called upon all Ugandans to continue supporting the Uganda Cranes from all corners of the world as we bid to qualify for the 2023 AFCON Finals which will be hosted by Ivory Coast next year.
The State Minister for Sports, Peter Ogwang last month apologized to the public for failing to renovate the stadium on time for the AFCON qualifiers but promised the first phase would be ready for the next game against Algeria.
“We are going to work hard as much as possible to have our next home game scheduled for 12th June played here in Namboole,” Ogwang said last month.
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