She Cranes head coach has no contract, says Sports minister

The difference betweeen Cranes coach Milutin Sredojevic and Fred Mugerwa's pay is night and day.

NETBALL She Cranes head coach has no contract, says Sports minister

Ndyamuhaki J Emanzi 09:42 - 09.08.2023

The She Cranes stunned hosts South Africa 49-47 to finish fifth in the Netball World Cup, and Mugerwa used their homecoming to present his issues.

Minister of State for Sports Peter Ogwang has revealed that She Cranes head coach Fred Mugerwa has no contract with the Uganda Netball Federation, hence not entitled to a monthly payment.

The minister said this in a communication put out through his official Twitter handle on Wednesday morning.

"I have quickly established that the National Netball Coach does not have a contract with Uganda Netball Federation," part of the tweet reads.

This comes after She Crane head coach Mugerwa threatened to resign his role due to continued non-payment and a tricky work environment.

"The Federation only has a mutual understanding with the coach to provide services to the team whenever called upon and would only be entitled to allowances. So, he has been receiving allowances from the Federation whenever he is on duty, including the recent successful campaign in South Africa," Ogwang added.

Apart from Uganda Cranes head coach Milutin Sredojevic, the rest of the national teams' coaches have no guaranteed payment and only take home allowances when their respective teams have engagements.

Even then, the allowances are only guaranteed for some of the disciplines.

Ogwang added: "In the interim, we shall have to compel the Federation to sign a temporal contract with the coach so that he is fully entitled to a monthly salary."

The She Cranes stunned hosts South Africa 49-47 to finish fifth in the Netball World Cup, and Mugerwa used their homecoming to present his issues.

Mugerwa also has assistant coaches and physios, who should have been mentioned somewhere in the minister's communication.

It remains to be seen how the story will end and whether national teams coaches across all sports disciplines will benefit.