By Immanuel Ben Misagga
A simple scan through social media posts about Ugandan football is enough to confirm two polar opposites: Ugandans are disconnected from Fufa.
One school of thought suggests either Ugandans are unappreciative of the efforts of Moses Magogo and his Fufa leadership or they are simply fed up with the federation’s mediocrity.Anyone who has read this column more than once knows where I fall.
In Magogo’s 10-year reign as Fufa president, he has achieved a lot, such as increasing the Fufa budget tenfold, improving player allowances and being his tenure when The Cranes twice qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon). But for all those achievements, the most conspicuous letdown is a lack of integrity.
I don’t need to repost the numerous scandals to prove my point, but for a person who even served a Fifa suspension for stealing tickets from Ugandans, the last thing he needed to avoid was something that put his integrity in check.
Unfortunately, that’s the least of Magogo’s worries; so, in appointing Belgian Paul Put, a tainted tactician, as new Cranes coach, Magogo was perhaps reminding everyone that cares to listen that football and integrity are not bedfellows.
Yet again, I don’t need to reload Put’s gallery of misdeeds, and it could also be true that he is a changed man.
However, the timing, as Uganda prepares to rebuild a team that will compete in the 2027 Afcon, couldn’t have been worse when you get a coach who has never settled on any team.
You cannot convince me that a person who has coached 13 teams in 20 years will stay in Uganda and guide the team to success in four years’ time.
Put will most likely get fired within a year or look for a better job elsewhere.
Having said that, I am not the appointing authority to fire him, and in this situation, I have to hope he can elevate our game to another level.
Doing so will greatly disprove critical Ugandan fans who are yearning for a coach that can overhaul the current Cranes team of underperformers and create a formidable team that can compete favourably on the continent.
Indeed, we don’t have to wait long as Guinea, a nation that sacked and suspended Put on integrity grounds, hosts The Cranes in a World Cup qualifier on November 17.
He needs to hit the ground running; otherwise, fans will be baying for his sacking.
On a sad note, it’s saddening that Darius Mugoye, the Fufa second vice president is dead. Mugoye was a man of few words and the few times we used to talk, he used to assure me that whereas we hold different views about the direction of Ugandan, it was all about the passion we hold for the game; no hard feelings or hate. Rest in peace.
The author is SC Villa President Emeritus
