FUFA Says they Do not Owe any Money to Uganda Cranes Players

By Thomas Odongo

The Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA) says they do not owe any money to the Uganda Cranes team.

On Tuesday July 2, 2019 the Uganda Cranes team now for AFCON in Egypt did not undergo training, as per program after players opted not to over unpaid allowances and bonuses. However in a statement issued on Wednesday, FUFA explained that they have engaged the players and agreed on their rights and obligations at the AFCON, including allowances and bonuses.

“FUFA has since engaged the players and confirmed that a complaint about emoluments as their cause of action,” the statement posted on the FUFA website reads in part. “FUFA wishes to affirm that matters of the rights and obligations of the members of the Uganda Cranes at the AFCON 2019 inclusive of the allowances and bonuses of the team were discussed and agreed upon by the team and were put into a document called the Code of Conduct. Every member of the team signed the Code of Conduct before being allowed into the camp,” the statement added.

According to the training program released by the technical team, the Uganda Cranes team was supposed to conduct training at the Arab Contractors stadium at 7pm local time but they never showed up as expected. Uganda has progressed to the round of 16 in the AFCON2019 and has been drawn against Senegal.

FUFA Statement in Full

On the 2nd July 2019, The Uganda Cranes did not undergo training after players opted not to despite a training programme released by the technical team. FUFA has since engaged the players and confirmed that a complaint about emoluments as their cause of action.

FUFA wishes to affirm that matters of the rights and obligations of the members of the Uganda Cranes at the AFCON 2019 inclusive of the allowances and bonuses of the team were discussed and agreed upon by the team and were put into a document called the Code of Conduct. Every member of the team signed the Code of Conduct before being allowed into the camp.

The financial structure to be paid to each member of the Uganda Cranes in the Code of Conduct is as follows;

Item USD Camp in Uganda per day 14 days 30 Foreign Camp (Abu Dhabi & Cairo) per day 53 days 150 Each Draw in the Group Stages 2,000 Each Win in the Group Stages 4,000 R16 to R8 (Winning @ R16) 1 5,000 R8 to R4 (Winning @ Quarter Final) 1 7,000 R4 to R2 (Winning @ Semi Final) 1 9,000 Winning the Final 1 14,630 FUFA has already paid the following amounts to each member • 420 USD for the Camp in Uganda (14 days) • 5,100 USD for the Foreign Camp (34 days ending 30th June 2019) • 4,000 USD for the Winning Bonus of the DR Congo match • 2,000 USD for the Draw against Zimbabwe Far and beyond the Code of Conduct, FUFA has also paid extra 2,780 USD to each player for camp morale and 300 USD for the International friendly match against Ivory Coast.

As of 2nd July 2019, each player has received up to 14,600 USD (App 55m UGX) already with more daily allowances and winning bonuses awaiting to be earned and paid on time. According to FUFA, there is currently nothing owing to the players as per the signed Code of Conduct and more than 2 Billion UGX has been paid to this item alone. This matter has been explained to the players and instead they have opted to renegotiate the terms of the Code of Conduct after qualifying to the round of 16 leading to the decision not to undergo training. FUFA believes the players will respect the signed Code of Conduct and this matter will be resolved like many others before.

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