MENGO – Police FC head coach Abdallah Mubiru has been handed the task to guide the Uganda Cranes on an interim basis.
The tactician replaces Sebastien Desabre who terminated his contract following the Cranes’ exit from the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday.
The announcement of Mubiru’s appointment was made on on Wednesday, June 10th, at the Federation of Uganda Football Association ( FUFA) weekly press conference.
“After an executive meeting, Abdallah Mubiru has been the head coach of the Uganda Cranes on an interim basis. Announced FUFA president Moses Magogo on Wednesday.
“He will be in charge for a period of time as we search for a new coach.
The Cranes top role fell vacant this past Sunday after Desabre decided to terminate his contract by Mutual Consent.
The Frenchman has been the head coach of the Uganda National Men’s football team since December 2017.
In his tenure, he guided Uganda at two major tournaments including the 2018 CHAN championships in Morocco and the on-going Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
At CHAN, Uganda was eliminated at the group stage after losing two and drawing the other of their three games.
For the 2019 AFCON, they finished second in Group A before they were eliminated at the round of 16 after losing to Senegal 0-1.
A day after leaving his role with the Cranes, Desabre was unveiled as head coach of Egyptian Premier League side Pyramids FC with whom he signed a two-year deal.
With the Cranes set to take on Somalia in the CHAN 2020 qualifiers later this month, FUFA had to act quickly and find a temporary replacement for Desabre, thus naming Mubiru.
Mubiru who was also in charge of the Cranes team that participated in the 2019 COSAFA Cup in South Africa will be assisted by Charles Livingstone Mbabazi along with Sadiq Wassa and Geoffrey Masa.
All four were in South Africa last month as the Cranes were eliminated from the competition at the quarter-final stage.
At the press conference on Wednesday, it was also announced that applications for the Cranes head role were officially open.
It has been a while since a Ugandan was fully in charge of the Cranes and it remains to be seen whether one will take the job but after two Europeans have seen the team make two back to back AFCON appearances, it is likely that the job will be given to another non-Ugandan.
