The Weekly Observer (Kampala)
Robert Madoi
30 July 2008
column
An interview that former national football coach Csaba Laszlo gave Scotland's Scotsman publication (which is fast-becoming a must-read for many a sports fan) allowed local football aficionados to veer away from the pinball game that FUFA and it's former lawyer Fred Muwema have been playing.
In the abovementioned interview, Laszlo spoke animatedly how growing up in cash-strapped Romania groomed him to become not only battle-hardened but a character that shuns profligacy. Passion, Laszlo stated, must always override monetary benefit.
How touching. But not for FUFA I would imagine. After literally breaking their piggybank to ensure that Laszlo enjoyed a knees-up session in Uganda, the Hungarian-German rewarded the local football body by poking its eyes. FUFA breached his contract, he insisted.
Among the many flaws that FUFA committed were not paying Laszlo utility bills, denying him a work permit for 19 months, and giving him two cheques that bounced. Muwema, who now remarkably dons the hat of being Laszlo's lawyer, pointed out all of FUFA's wrongs in as far as the treatment of Laszlo during his two-year spell as national football coach is concerned.
It must have been quite easy for Muwema to single out FUFA's shortcomings especially since he was the brain behind the four-year contract that the local football body offered Laszlo shortly after the 2006 World Cup. But Muwema should be in no hurry to straighten out his shoulders and hold his head high.
For one, Muwema's client, just like FUFA, is not entirely squeaky clean in what is becoming a sorry episode. A person that gets sick and doesn't involve their superiors for redress needs not even a grain of sympathy. And furthermore to keep cheques that FUFA recalled and claim that they bounced is quite frankly nauseating.
And let's not forget that in good old Laszlo's handbook, passion overrides monetary benefit. If it really did, you wonder why the Hungarian-German was so hell-bent on having FUFA pay his utility bills yet this wasn't supposed to be part of the football body's bargain. At least that is what FUFA chief, Lawrence Mulindwa claims. His payment of Laszlo's utility bills was just out of "good will" he told NBS TV last Friday.
So, why is Muwema pushing for a hard bargain? Whatever the case, he's doing a job - a bloody good one at that. FUFA appear to have cowed in a corner. No-one at Mengo is throwing toys out of the pram now as talk of reporting Laszlo to world football body FIFA has subsided. A roundtable talk now seems inevitable.
Muwema may be pleased with the way things have panned out, but on the flipside he should worry because he will emerge from the pinball game with a huge chunk of dirt on his drapes.
You don't have to be a rock-scientist to construe Muwema's battle with FUFA as one oozing personal overtures. The fallout between Mulindwa and the triumvirate of Muwema, Dennis Mbidde and Aldrine Nsubuga early this year fashioned many subplots. Amongst the many include SC Villa's tussle with Bunamwaya for Caesar Okhuti that climaxed with a victory for the latter.
By engaging in a personal battle with Mulindwa, Muwema has in a way showed that the young Turks are no different from local football's old guard. Both groups are happy to see personal battles knock football off the pedestal. How sad.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Weekly Observer. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
