The Sports Minister, Hamson Obua has warned that Uganda Cranes risks hosting its 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in neighbouring countries.
While appearing before the Parliamentary sports committee, Obua stressed that Uganda’s options lie on either lifting the ban off Namboole stadium or approving of the St. Mary’s Stadium in Kitende by FIFA.
“If the inspection for the world cup qualifiers does not approve it, I want to put the country on notice that the country will have no option but to host the world cup qualifying matches in one of the countries outside Uganda,” Obua said.
The only current option for Uganda is St Mary’s Stadium in Kitende which although passed the CAF standards for the Africa cup qualifying games, didn’t get approval by FIFA for the World Cup games.
Obua says that they need about 96 billion shillings to renovate Namboole stadium.
FIFA in March 2020 barred Namboole from hosting the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers after inspection of the facility. They cited that the toilet facilities, the playing ground, the pavilion and the dressing rooms all were substandard.
Uganda is in group E for 2022 alongside neighbours Kenya and Rwanda, and West African giant Mali. This means Uganda could host its games in Tanzania if Namboole isn’t renovated by the time the games kick off.
