Kyadondo East MP, Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine has warned his followers against boycotting Uganda Cranes games.
This is after Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA) wrote to Mandela National Stadium protesting the venue for Bobi’s Kyarenga concert ahead of Cranes Afcon 2019 qualifier encounter with Cape Verde.
Using his official social media platforms including Twiiter and Facebook, Bobi Wine said: “I don’t agree with the hash tag #boycottugandacranes which is trending as a result of the Kyarenga concert cancelation by Namboole. The Uganda Cranes is our national team in which we should take pride. All these young men need is love and support not condemnation.” He added: “These young men (Uganda Cranes), just like most of us work hard to raise our flag high, using their talent even when they are insufficiently facilitated. If musical talent is being suffocated, let’s not take all the other talent down the drain.”
The future of Kyarenga concert that was meant to take place on 9th November 2018 was further dented following a letter authored by Edgar Watson, Chief Executive Officer who threatened management of Mandela National Stadium of plans to have Kyarenga concert held at the football stadium, saying it would affect Uganda Crane’s chances of qualifying for Africa Cup of Nations.
Watson asserted that it was the opinion of FUFA that any public event within the international football match will put the stadium into an unacceptable standard to the detriment of CAF docking off points from the Uganda Cranes.
The national team is slated to host Cape Verde on Saturday 17th 2018 in a decisive match that would determine Uganda’s future at the AFCON having emerged top on the table with 10points after beating Lesotho 2:0 with the national team requiring one only one point to book place in Cameroon.
Watson asserted that Mandela National Stadium is under a ‘red flag’ and the Uganda Cranes match due for Cape Verde may be put off by CAF if the pitch isn’t found in good state to host an international match, warning this would result to Uganda’s failure to qualify for the finals of AFCON Cameroon 2019 finals.
Following the communication from FUFA, Mandela stadium management backtracked on its earlier communication, having halted the 20th October 2018 concert on pretext that the pitch had been booked for a wedding, but the wedding is said not to have taken place on Saturday after images showed the pitch empty.
