By Andrew Irumba
FUFA House, Mengo: The Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA) top Executive Committee has Tuesday resolved to send on forced leave the Head Coach of the National Football Team, The Uganda Cranes, Mr. Johnathan McKinstry so they can assess his performance and then see whether they still need his services or not!
READ ALSO: Jonathan Mckinstry Is UG Cranes’ New Head Coach-FUFA
“Yes, they have asked him to step aside from managing and coaching the team for the period from 2nd- 31st March 2021, so they can assess his performance well,” a source at FUFA house to our spy reporter.
“In the meantime, Assistant Coaches, Mubiru Abdallah, Mbabazi Livingstone, and goalkeeping coach Kajoba Fred will take charge of the team during this period. The rest of the Technical team remains unchanged,” the source added.
READ ALSO: Coach McKinstry Reveals Why He Dropped International Stars From Uganda Cranes Squad
Another close and impeccable source at Mengo house however disclosed to Spy Uganda that telling McKinstry to ‘step aside’ was simply a diplomatic term to mean ‘he has been fired’!
Who Is Jonathan McKinstry?
Johnathan McKinstry, born July 16, 1985, is a Northern Irish football manager and has been the Head Coach Uganda Cranes National team since September 30, 2019.
READ ALSO: Full Squad Unveiled: Coach McKinstry Summons Foreign Based Players Ahead Of Training In Dubai
McKinstry signed a three-year contract, replacing French national Sébastien Desabre. His abrupt cancellation of the contract by FUFA could however attract serious legal battles and financial penalties if he chooses to take that direction. Some pundits told this reporter that the reason FUFA didn’t want to openly say ‘You’re fired” is precisely to dodge the clause that would require them to pay him ‘handsomely’ before he gets his next plane back to his country. “They want to get tired of the situation and hung up the ‘gloves’ himself,” a source told this reporter.
| Teams Managed Before | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Team | ||
| 2013–2014 | Sierra Leone | ||
| 2015–2016 | Rwanda | ||
| 2017–2018 | Kauno Zalgiris | ||
| 2018–2019 | Saif SC | ||
| 2019–2021 | Uganda | ||
McKinstry is the first person from Northern Ireland to manage three international football teams. Following Michael O’Neill’s departure from his role with the Irish FA, on 21 April 2020, McKinstry became the only person from Northern Ireland active as an international head coach.
Previously McKinstry managed the Rwanda national team, the Sierra Leone national team, Kauno Žalgiris in the A Lyga and Saif SC of the Bangladesh Football Premier League.
Whilst in charge of Sierra Leone, McKinstry was the youngest international manager in the world at 27 years old. FUFA firing him from the job could greatly affect his brand, career, and reputation worldwide in the football business. Watch the space…
