Magogo: We Turned Down Offer To Host CHAN

FUFA President Eng Moses Magogo has revealed that the Uganda turned down an offer to host 2020 CHAN due to poor facilities in the country.

He made the revelation during an 88.5 Super FM sports show on Sunday.

To host CHAN, willing countries submit their bids to Confederation of African Football (CAF). However, the African body asks countries to bail them out in case the chosen country fails to meet the deadline.

Also Read – Uganda Qualify for CHAN

“The fact is that we don’t have stadiums, in Uganda, we even turned down the offer to host CHAN because of stadiums,” said Magogo.

“We have all the necessary requirements to host CHAN beside the stadiums and this has affected us both on local and international scene.

“You find a while municipality like Mbarara failing to produce a good stadium that meets the requirements for the league, and Mbarara City FC ending up playing in Kampala.”

He also commented that even the Country’s national stadium – Namboole – doesn’t meet all the required FIFA standards.

Artistic impression of Nakivubo
Work at Nakivubo. Ham photo

Magogo who called for government funding into developing the infrastructure, added that the federation is building two stadiums in Lugazi and Kadiba.

Related – CHAN dates Revised

According to the CAF guidelines, at least four stadiums are required for a given country to host CHAN.

These stadiums need specialized lighting systems, at least four changing rooms, referee’s rooms, media facilities and rooms for anti-doping tests.

Neighbours Rwanda hosted the 2016 CHAN using Amahoro, Stade de Rubavu, Stade de Huye and Nyamirambo. Sudan hosted in 2011 while Kenya failed in 2018.

Ethiopia was stripped of the 2020 host rights after the country did not meet the required standards.

Magogo believes that if the government upgrades the available Municipal stadiums, Uganda will be good to go.

Rwanda’s government reportedly spent about $21M on upgrading facilities and other preparations.

Some of the municipal stadiums include Pece stadium (Gulu), Recreation Ground (Masaka), Akii-Bua (Lira), Mbale Municipal stadium (Mbale), Kakyeka (Mbarara), Bugembe (Jinja) among others.

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