Barely a few hours after the Cranes refused to train ahead of a round of 16 game against Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations, the national netball team, the She Cranes have gone up in arms and threatened not to travel for the Netball World Cup due July 12 -21 in Liverpool, England.
And just like the Cranes scenario, the She Cranes grievances stem from unpaid bonuses that were promised to the players by the netball federation.
It should be noted that in April this year, during the Uganda Netball Federation’s (UNF) Annual general meeting, the delegates approved $8,000 (Shs29million) to be paid to each of the coaches and players.
However, according to sources inside the camp neither the coaches nor the players have received their bonuses that include training, daily allowances and qualification bonuses.
“We agreed as a team not to travel out of the country without receiving our allowances from the federation. We have families that we are leaving behind and so we need this money in time,” said one of the top players in the camp who preferred anonymity.
The recently read annual budget allocated Shs2 billion to the netball federation to cater for the national team during the Netball World Cup.
UNF president Susan Anek however says that although the government has not released funds for the World Cup, they have secured tickets and are ready to fly out.
The challenges in securing funds is a motivator for the team to perform much better at the World Cup, now that Uganda has even moved one rank higher in the world from seventh to sixth position, she is quoted as having said by the Independent.
Uganda’s delegation is expected to travel on Friday.
Uganda will kick-start their World Cup campaign against the hosts England in the opening game of the tournament on July 12, before taking on other Group D opponents Samoa and Scotland. The She Cranes suffered a narrow defeat of 55-49 to England in the Commonwealth Games last year and later lost to the same team 50-46, 65-53 and 66-37 in the three-match Test Series.
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