Uganda Cranes goalkeeper Dennis Onyango says the players are not happy with the way they have been treated by the country’s football administrative body, FUFA.
“We are not very happy with the way some federation officials treat us. We are not children, we need good and better communication from them,” Onyango said at the Libreville International Airport before the team traveled back to Uganda on Thursday last week.
The Cranes failed to qualify from Group D at the on-going 2017 Total Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon). Coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic’s team lost by the same 1-0 score to Ghana and Egypt before settling for a 1-all draw against Mali in the last game.
Onyango, also the African Player of the Year 2016 (African based) said they need to be treated well. He cited the recent saga of the national team jerseys when they were told by officials that all the six sets of jerseys used at the Afcon would be taken by the players. But in an apparent twist, it was ordered that the federation would keep two sets of jerseys.
“They handled that matter poorly and we players are not happy about that matter,” he added.
But the head of delegation, Rogers Byamukama supported the decision by the Fufa saying they needed to keep some of the jerseys to be framed at the headquarters in Mengo.
“Many of the other players have not been impressed with the way we are handled and particularly during the preparations and at the Afcon. Yes we love to represent our country, but the people responsible should make the atmosphere better by being open and also communicate well.” Onyango added.
Speaking about playing at the Afcon, Onyango said it was very emotional and the team has benefited a lot. “We have learnt a lot as a team and hope this makes us stronger,” he added.
“I think it was a great experience for all of us, all of us have never been at the African Cup and I believe we learnt a couple of things and also see how big teams react when they lose the ball to win the ball and how they use moments of the game.
For me, I believe the guys have learnt that and we’ll also get to know what to do when we lose the ball. It was a learning curve for us and great experience playing top teams in Africa – Egypt, Ghana plus Mali. There was no small team. For us it is a plus and also to the country because even in Kampala I have never heard the national anthem being played with three stanzas but it was emotional to be at the Nations Cup and hear the anthem played with three stanzas.”