By Fred Kaweesi

Preliminaries (U-20)
April 15
Uganda v Zimbabwe
April 29
Zimbabwe v Uganda
Nations Cup qualifiers
September 3
Uganda v Lesotho
October 8
Niger v Uganda

KAIZER Chiefs midfielder David Obua (top) feels the abrupt sacking of Mohammad Abbas as Cranes head coach would undermine Uganda’s chances of making the 2008 Nations Cup finals in Ghana.

The Egyptian-born coach who returned from holiday yesterday, was fired on Tuesday after a meeting chaired by FUFA president Lawrence Mulindwa.

And while, the new FUFA feels the move will take the nation a step higher, Obua defers.

“It’s a terrible thing to have happened now. He had known every player so well and we had started understanding his game. The timing is not right, we still needed him,” Obua said on phone from Johannesburg.

Abbas was hired through a cultural exchange program with Egypt.

Meanwhile, FUFA are soliciting for sh80m from the Confederations of African Football (CAF) to support Uganda’s U-20 qualifying campaign.
“We have written to CAF for financial support. CAF are aware of our problems and the fact that we are yet to get anything from FIFA,” media committee’s Rogers Mulindwa disclosed during the weekly press briefing yesterday.