The government on Sunday evening lifted the ban on sports in the country, a much-anticipated communication for the sports fraternity, but even with that put to the side, there are still a few guidelines that must be observed if any sports activities are to be allowed. One that will not be well taken is that fact that fans will not be allowed to watch games live from venues.
With competition both at the club and international level just around the corner, many aspects of the games are in question. It has been six months since a ban on sports was imposed and what has Coach Jonathan McKinstry been up to.
“For the last months, myself and the coaching staff have dug deep into what we want to do with the team and looked at every position and every player,” said the coach.
“We’ve used the last months very very well and we’ve been able to put in place some good plans,” he added.
CAF announced that competitive soccer will return in November this year with African Cup of Nations Qualifiers and Uganda will meet CECAFA counterpart South Sudan that gives the team a little over a month to prepare for this fixture that was postponed from March this year.
“We’ve got to make sure that whilst we are trying to get them (players) to their top-level again, we don’t push them too hard because if we push our athletes too much, we are going to get injuries.” Coach Mckinstry said.
“We have engaged the government, engaged the federation and we are very pleased to be able to confirm a training camp for Dubai in the next couple of weeks in early October during the FIFA window,” he added.
Players have been receiving special training at home during the lock and it is time to see if they have put these to great use said the coach.
It is not a green light for GO as yet because different federations will hold meetings with National Council of Sports (NCS) to discuss a way forward as some of the restrictions set by the government pose some issues say, for example, coming up with funds to handle the periodic test for league games that run for several months and also the costs of accommodation in case of locally organised tournaments. So, that implies that it is still a couple of weeks before final decisions are made.
