Afcon Qualifier: Malawi defeated Uganda fairly - Fufa's Magogo

The Federation of Uganda Football Associations president Moses Magogo has stated they lost the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Monday against Malawi fairly.

The Cranes went down 1-0 against the Flames, a result that ended their dreams of earning a third straight Afcon participation ticket. Instead, a goal by Richard Mbulu in the 15th minute handed the Cosafa nationa finals' slot for the 33rd edition that will be held in Cameroon.

"We lost fairly after the authorities declared all our players Covid-19 negative and available for selection," Magogo wrote on his Facebook page after the match at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre.

"The Mozambique referees were very fair to both teams at least in my view. The better team on the pitch won, congratulations to Malawi."

The federation chief has declared that the focus will now be on the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. Uganda will face Mali, Kenya and Rwanda in the qualifiers that are set to begin in mid-2021.

"We will shift our focus to the Fifa 2022 World Cup qualifiers coming in June," he added.

Before they played Malawi - a game that they needed to draw or win to join the qualified teams - Fufa had to deal with allegations that midfielder Taddeo Lwanga tested positive for the coronavirus.

The Simba SC star was, however, cleared later - after Fufa's sought Caf's intervention over the matter- and was on the bench.

The Cranes were dealt with an injury blow in the 44th minute when Ronald Mukiibi was injured and Gavin Kizito was given his senior team debut.

Bevis Bwomono, Patrick Kaddu, Timothy Awany and Fahad Bayo are some of the players that were not available for Uganda for the game that carried so many stakes.

Before the last two Afcon qualifiers, Uganda dismissed Khalid Aucho over indiscipline and his removal from the team led to a prolonged debate, with some backing Fufa's move while others connected the dismissal with the player's perceived political stand.

The Cranes were part of the January/February African Nations Championship competition in Cameroon. They were eliminated at the group stage after they failed to pick up enough points against Rwanda, Togo and the eventual winners, Morocco.

The result saw head coach Johnathan McKinstry told to step aside and his fate is yet to be fully determined. The qualifiers against South Sudan and Malawi were overseen by coaches Abdallah Mubiru, Livingstone Mbabazi and Fred Kajoba.

The U20 side participated in the Afcon finals in Mauritania and despite being debutants, they sailed all the way to the ultimate stage only to lose to Tunisia.

The latest failure by Uganda to advance means no East African country will be part of the Cameroon finals. Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi were part of the 2019 edition but it is only the Cranes that progressed to the knockout stage.

They were, however, eliminated in the Round of 16 by the eventual finalists Senegal.