Following a sit-down strike by Uganda Cranes players at the Africa Cup of Nations, Government has come out to state that they fully financed the budget presented to them by football governing body, Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA).
The Cranes took the action because they are apparently owed at least $6000, approximately UGX 22M, in bonuses for their win against DR Congo (USDs 4,000) & draw against Zimbabwe (USDs 2,000), among other allowances.
FUFA confirmed the strike, but said the players were fully paid all their bonuses and allowances.
“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 waiting to be earned and paid on time.
FUFA went on to insist that the players do not have any arrears as per the signed code of conduct and more than 2 Billion UGX has been paid to this item alone.
The football federation went on to claim that this matter had 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 “ read the FUFA statement in part.
The matter has now come to the attention of Government, and according to the National Council of Sports General Secretary, Bernard Ogwel, UGX 10B, which is broken down to UGX 3.8B budgeted for the national team for the AFCON campaign, and excess arrears for other FUFA administrative expenses as provided for in the action plan presented to government, was all given to the football federation.
“FUFA has officially written to government informing us that there has been a problem in the camp where players refused to go for a scheduled training program released by the technical team, the issue being that players are demanding for additional benefits after qualifying for the round of 16, said Ogwel, before adding, “FUFA also gave us the breakdown on how they had planned and cleared all the players’ allowances and bonus and nothing is owing to the players as per signed code of conduct.”
Ogwel went on to share that Government released 100% of the funds required for the Cranes’ participation in the 2019 AFCON, and therefore don’t expect problems to come up now.
Ogwel added, “we believe the FUFA leadership and the players will respect their code of conduct and this matter will be resolved before the Friday game.”
The strike came just days before the Uganda Cranes take part in the all-important last 16 against Senegal this Friday, 5th July, 2019.
The players agreed to resume training after an emergency meeting between the senior Cranes players, FUFA and government officials on Wednesday evening.
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