Prime
Fufa must come clean on payment of players
What you need to know:
- The issue: Fufa presidency
- Our view: The treatment of one of Fufa’s own, Mutyaba, is despicable and appalling. It should be condemned and the federation ought to humble themselves and apologise to him and the general public.
It is the political season again as Uganda’s biggest sport, football, chooses its next leaders. That process that starts with the selection to August’s delegates’ assembly started on Saturday across the country.
The incumbent Fufa president, Mr Moses Magogo, has already thrown his hat in the ring.
If he wins a third term, his tenure will stretch to 12 years, making him the longest serving Fufa head since the body was formed in 1924 on the orders of King Sir Daudi Chwa.
At the event where he announced his candidature, Magogo took time off to directly respond to recent accusations by a former Uganda Cranes’ player Sulaiman Mutyaba.
Recently, Mutyaba has been in the news calling for the resignation of Magogo over unpaid players’ dues.
He chose to hold a peaceful demonstration at the federation offices in Mengo, a Kampala suburb while holding a placard that bore the phrase “Magogo Must Resign.”
As he sat on the ground with the placard, one of the security guards hired by Fufa from a private security firm beat him with a stick repeatedly leaving significant bruises on his body.
The same guard pointed a gun at Mutyaba only to be restrained. Elections, by their emotive nature, come with so many anecdotes. This is one of them.
You could argue that the two events – Mutyaba’s fight to improve players’ welfare and the ongoing electoral process – are unrelated. But, that they are happening in the sphere concurrently.
The treatment of one of Fufa’s own, Mutyaba, is despicable and appalling. It should be condemned and the federation ought to humble themselves and apologise to him and the general public.
At a time when the country is healing from the failure to make it to the next edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, football needs every kind of good public relations.
In his response to the demands to pay players, Magogo chose not to explain why there has been a delay and opted to describe the players in a disparaging way for their unsatisfying displays.
Those unpalatable descriptions imply that he doesn’t have respect for those who work for the glory of Fufa, including players and delegates that he now wishes to please.
The time to take a step back has come for him to realise that this combative mode cannot work at a time when he need to build bridges to impress the delegates.
Fufa and its leader have got to be deliberate in creating a good impression because cleanliness is important.
