President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni with Uganda Cranes Captain Denis Onyango and Head coach Sebastien Desabre

In a jolly mood, the President discussed football matters with the contingent before he announced his offer of a chartered flight to fly the Cranes to Maseru for the reverse fixture against Lesotho to be played on Tuesday 16^th October, 2018.

President Museveni also offered the Uganda Cranes contingent to State House a financial boost of UGX 200M (Two Hundred Million Shillings).

President Museveni congratulated the team for posting results that have kept the Cranes on top of the group in the campaign but urged them to work harder against Lesotho on Saturday.

“I have been following you of recent and I thank you for the performance but we need to work harder for better results. I have offered you a chartered plane to Lesotho and UGX 200M to help you get good results” said President Museveni

Speaking on behalf of the players, team captain Denis Onyango appreciated the President and the First Lady Janet Museveni (Minister of Education and Sports) for the recent support towards the Cranes and football.

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in a deep discussion with the Uganda Cranes and FUFA Contingent to State House on Tuesday in Entebbe

“The support from the President is a sign that he follows and loves sports. Football has been picking good results partly because of such support from the fountain of honour and office of Education and Sports. This offer will help the team fly in time to Maseru for the game” said Justus Mugisha.

The Uganda Cranes Technical team led by head coach Sebastien Desabre was also in attendance.

The delegation to State House was led by FUFA 1st Vice President Justus Mugisha, accompanied by 2^nd Vice President Darius Mugoye, FUFA CEO Edgar Watson and the FUFA Finance Director Decolas Kiiza.

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The Ugandan government has given US $540716 to help the Cranes at the tournament which kicks off in Gabon on 14 January though it is considerably less than the Federation of Uganda Football Association had requested according to BBC.

Uganda’s State Minister for Sport, Charles Bakkabulindi, admitted the sum is much less than the US $2 million FUFA had wanted, but said the government also had to factor in other commitments.

“We are happy that although the money has taken a while to come out, it has finally come and it will handle several aspects including allowances for the team in Gabon,” the Minister told BBC Sport.

He added that the government is also working hard to find money to fund part of the 2017 World Cross Country Championship which will take place in Kampala in March as per the report.

Bakkabulindi reasoned that since the Confederation of African Football (Caf) has sent over US$200,000 for each of the 16 teams to help them participate at the Nations Cup, the Uganda Cranes already have some financial support.

In December, 2017, the Ugandan FA (FUFA) were embroiled into financial crisis with the FA’s head of Finance, Decolas Kiiza, saying they needed quick government intervention.

FUFA had to borrow funds to send the team to their training camp in Tunisia and now in the United Arab Emirates where they are carrying out preparations ahead of  the Afcon.

Uganda who made history by ending a 38-year wait to qualify for Afcon are in Group D alongside Egypt, Ghana and Mali. They will play their first match on the 17th against Ghana before going head to head with Egypt on 21st, January 2017.

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