Uganda Cranes meltdown continues with senior internationals walking out in protest

Celebrated Mamelodi Sundowns shot stopper Dennis Onyango yesterday announced his retirement from international football after serving the Uganda Cranes for a career spanning sixteen years amidst raging controversy at The Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA).

In making over 80 appearances for Uganda, the 2016 African Footballer of the Year, Champions League winner, and three-time CAF XI goalkeeper helped Uganda end a nearly four-decade absence from the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) with a Gabon 2017 appearance before captaining the Cranes at the next edition in Egypt back in 2019.

Onyango joined Hassan Wasswa, his assistant captain in the team, who also retired from international football after serving for thirteen years.

The retirement from Onyango and Wasswa however comes after Fufa, the body tasked with overseeing football in Uganda, and its head Moses Magogo have been especially accused of “eating players’ money” – allowances and bonuses accrued from participation in the Africa Nations Championship and the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

In an interview on Uganda’s Daily monitor, Magogo acknowledged that the federation owed the player some debts but it is his statements afterwards that seemed to have been the final stroke for Onyango who had seen enough.

“What did they play in Chan? When you demand money, what have you put on the table? They went there and played sh*tty football,” the President said.

Onyango, who until the time of his retirement was the captain of the Cranes, retorted furiously while confirming the embezzlement allegations on the head of the federation and hinting at never featuring again for his national team.

“Yes, they [Fufa] embezzle players’ funds, that is the truth, because national team players were each supposed to be paid Shs1 million monthly. I do not know who will play for him (Magogo) in the World Cup qualifiers because I do not have the time for that,” he is quoted on the paper.

True to his words, Onyango would throw in the towel barely a week after Magogo announced that he intends to run for a third term in office. Magogo has served for two four-year terms since taking charge back in 2013 and his current term expires on August 31,2021. The president rose to the seat unopposed in those two terms in office. It is also important to note that there are no term limits in office at FUFA.

Just like Kenya, Uganda Cranes failed to make it to the Afcon finals slated for next year in Cameroon and will now turn their focus to the upcoming World Cup qualifiers that are scheduled to start in June. Uganda are in the same group with Harambee Stars, Rwanda and Mali and face Kenya in the first fixture of the qualifiers in Nairobi either on 5th/6th June.