Cranes no longer prestigious

Guenter Zittel’s disappointment towards Hassan Mubiru’s refusal to join Cranes was understandable. That Mubiru had the audacity to play for his clan barely a day after declaring he would not travel to Rwanda, must have disturbed the national soccer director even more. Mubiru’s explanation that he could not mix soccer with fasting, besides wanting a break from Cranes financial woes, all sounded shaky. Zittel, who hails from a country where playing for the national team is every player’s dream, has cause to wonder when a country’s top striker sidelines national duty for a local competition. That Mubiru is seriously eyeing the pro ranks, was to Zittel more reason for Mubiru to cash in on the international exposure that the Kigali event would provide. Anyone would side with Zittel, but that is until getting to know what our national players go through in the name of national duty. I remember a senior player crying out “this is torture,” after being paid sh 5,000 for winning the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup last year. Mind you, he had for three weeks selflessly served the nation while his family battled with hunger. Such cases and others like sleeping at airports, playing in borrowed jerseys and first striking before allowances are paid, are just part of a long list of humiliations that have punctured players enthusiasm towards the national team. Lack of medical security, as Abdulla Nsubuga will tell you, is another reason Ugandan footballers pay more allegiance to their clubs. But, while this increased allegiance to clubs might be understandable, preference by a country’s top player for an even lower competition like the Bika, underlines how far the national team has been devalued. The blame lies on those at the helm of FUFA, most of whom ironically owe their current status to well facilitated national sides of the sixties and seveties. All indications are that the situation could worsen, unless those in charge realise that national players also deserve a cut from the pie. That’s the only way Cranes can be saved. Otherwise, why sweat in the names of national duty only to be forgotten before even the final whistle dies out? ends