Football
The Uganda national soccer team withdraws from the CHAN tournament
Uganda’s national soccer team, the Cranes, has withdrawn from the African Nations Championship tournament due to lack of funds, a senior official told AFP on Wednesday.
The tournament will be held in Algeria next month, but the Uganda team will not participate because the government did not provide promised funds, said Moses Magogo, president of the Uganda Federation of Football Associations.
“A difficult decision was made to remove the Cranes from the CHAN finals because without funds there is no other option available,” Magogo said.
“It’s a very disappointing situation, especially (for) the players, the coaches who have made this trip to the final and for the fans, but this is a decision we made.
painfully,” he added.
The Finance Ministry did not respond to an AFP request for comment.
This is not the first time that Uganda has withdrawn from sporting commitments due to financial constraints.
In October this year, the U-23 men’s soccer team was withdrawn from qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations due to lack of money.
In September 2021, the Uganda national basketball team was at risk of being kicked out of the AfroBasket championships in Rwanda after initially failing to pay their hotel bill.
Uganda’s parliament has set up a committee to investigate the state-run National Sports Council following allegations that officials solicited bribes to release budgeted funds to the country’s sports bodies.
