The Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA) president Moses Magogo has come out to clarify on the matter of Khalid Aucho who was dismissed from the Uganda Cranes camp on Friday.
Aucho was dismissed after failing to adhere to the national team’s code of conduct.
The aftermath has seen a division in opinion with some personal fronting political witch-hunt as the reason for the midfielder’s dismissal due to his friendship with Robert Kyagulanyi Ssengamu aka Bobi Wine.
The matter has forced Magogo to pen an open letter to Ugandans.
“Dear fellow Countrymen,
“The National Football Team (Uganda Cranes) is the pride of every Ugandan and shall always be protected and respected by all of us. As FUFA we are just custodians and handlers of the team.
“We are aware that the team includes officials, staff, players and coaches coming from different divides of life. We are extremely sensitive to religious, tribal, gender and political inclinations of the individuals that compose the team. Each member of the team is free to belong to any of those inclinations by choice or by birth. Team Membership is strictly by merit and adherence to the rules of belonging.
“The conduct of the National Team Members is in accordance with the National Teams’ Code of Conduct, Circulars and Camp Rules. These have widely been shared with the team members. No team member is above these provisions. The overall objective of these rules is obtaining the sporting result for the team that many Ugandans would wish to get.
“Administrative and punitive actions will always be taken against members of the National Team who fail to observe the rules without fear or favour.
“There is no amount of intimidation and distortion of facts that can ever make us managers of the team relent from applying the rules as they are. We are living in trying times and football rules on COVID-19 are very stringent.
“If you noticed, we have performed very well with having COVID-19 cases in ALL the National Teams (U17, U20, CHAN and Uganda Cranes) in international competitions. A basic example is when last camp, Allan Kyambadde flew in from Egypt and went home on returning to join the camp tested positive for COVID-19 and the team missed his services.
“Any person drawing tribal, religious and political affiliations as the basis for any National Team technical or administrative decision that is good for the entire team is either ignorant of how sports is managed or just following a bandwagon or an enemy to the sport.
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“I call upon the well-intended Ugandans to remain calm as the people in charge are tried and tested in these matters and will always deliver the overall objective.
“I have today attended the training of the National Team and everyone is in buoyant mood and ready to go.”
Moses Magogo
FUFA President
