{"id":413646,"date":"2011-05-02T02:22:07","date_gmt":"2011-05-02T02:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/02\/uganda-fufa-decision-is-case-of-bad-timing\/"},"modified":"2011-05-02T02:22:07","modified_gmt":"2011-05-02T02:22:07","slug":"uganda-fufa-decision-is-case-of-bad-timing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/02\/uganda-fufa-decision-is-case-of-bad-timing\/","title":{"rendered":"Uganda: Fufa Decision is Case of Bad Timing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"New<\/a><\/p>\n

30 April 2011<\/p>\n

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IT was a case of bad timing and bad taste. Amidst the current squeeze and public discontent over the escalating cost of survival, FUFA announced that immersing ourselves into football euphoria to escape the current austerity wasn’t coming on the cheap either.<\/p>\n

I saw it coming. I saw it when the Federation’s finance man Anthony Kimuli announced, soon after Cranes returned from Guinea-Bissau, that they needed sh240m for the home leg against the same opposition.<\/p>\n

“We need to start looking for it before hand,” he said back then. It was but a veiled message to fans (prepare for an increase in gate charges), to Uganda Revenue Authority (whatever is grossed at the gates, prepare to subtract sh240m in expenses before you levy your taxes) and to government (send another cheque).<\/p>\n

The game in Bissau had cost sh180m. For the first time in Ugandan football history, a home game will officially cost more than an away game. The old order overturned. Common sense overthrown. Kimuli is a legend.<\/p>\n

But for those who are slow to understand, it was finally spelt out on Wednesday. Watching Cranes beat Guinea (I hope) will cost a minimum of sh15,000. Football fans are used to charges of sh5000 for big league matches, sh10,000 for Cranes matches. Shs15,000 is what was charged for the 2007 qualifier against Nigeria.<\/p>\n

Guinea is no Nigeria of course. They have no big-name footballers from the big leagues against whom Ugandans would love to measure their own stars. But victory against them will carry us to the brink of history; one win, possibly even one draw away from qualifying for the African Nations Cup.<\/p>\n

That’s why the excitement has been building. After 34 years in the dark, everyone wants to be there when it finally dawns for us. And FUFA are positioning themselves to reap big, to create (financial) history of their own. For that I will only sparingly fault them. Most Ugandans in a similar position would go for it.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, FUFA’s timing was wretched. The match is in June. They could have waited until the current tension in the country eases —- and I hope it already has —- before announcing the increase. But the prospect of another big payday has blinded them to the realities around them. They have washed and wiped their hands long before dinner is served.<\/p>\n

But I can see their line of thought. They know that sh15,000 and sh30,000 isn’t pocket change for the ordinary football enthusiast, especially not now. So why not give them enough time to gather. That only makes sense from FUFA’s vantage point and asking them to be a little empathetic is asking too much.<\/p>\n

In any case, it’s their product and it’s their right to price it. They don’t have to explain anything and they shouldn’t have tried to.<\/p>\n

Because FUFA’s attempt to justify their increase, tying it down to fuel prices, was an insult to our intelligence. “We need to transport the (Guinea) team,” it was said.<\/p>\n

An increase of sh5,000 across an expected 40,000 people that will watch the game amounts to sh200m. That’s how much FUFA needs to transport a team from the airport to a hotel, to the stadium and then back to the airport. If each player rode a CHOGM-like BMW with a police escort in front and behind the convoy of 24 cars, it couldn’t cost half that much. The explanation is even worse than the decision.<\/p>\n

********<\/p>\n

There was a time not too long ago when my love for Jose Mourinho threatened to grow into an obsession. But having weaned off him, my distaste for the man is threatening similarly worrying levels.<\/p>\n

Blame it on two matches against Barcelona. And it’s worthy noting that I am not a particularly ardent supporter of Barcelona, neither am I enchanted by their aesthetic game.<\/p>\n

But when Mourinho, after his Inter Milan team had eliminated Barca last year, said in a press conference that “we didn’t want the ball” I was forced into a rethink. If such a philosophy diffuses into the coaching system —- and there are so many Mourinho admirers in the profession —- football would be headed for hard times.<\/p>\n

Mourinho has mustered the art of talking up a football game and raising its specter to that of war. He infuriates opponents with the intention of taking their mind off the game, while he and his team, behind the scenes, concentrate on the tactics required to win. It’s a ploy that’s worked for him almost all the time. This time it didn’t.<\/p>\n

And now that Real Madrid lost, the world must come to an end. Football is full of conspiracies, “it’s a world that sometimes disgusts me” (his words). “Now we must do it without Pepe who did nothing and Ramos who did nothing and without a coach on bench who did nothing.”<\/p>\n

Mourinho’s self-absorption has made him delusional. He must win for football to be a joyous pastime. We must all work hard to ensure that he wins. Because if he doesn’t, the industry in tainted, devoid of credibility or merit, and the referee is twisted. Everybody else’s titles are scandalous. Only his are clean.<\/p>\n

After Mourinho’s comments made Swedish referee Anders Frisk to retire in 2006 — he received death threats through his mail box —- another referee might be going the same way, after a job well done.<\/p>\n

Football has seen too many winners. Mourinho is not one of them. He’s a maniac.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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