The Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) have sacked Cranes head coach Jonathan McKinstry after just 19 months into his three-year-contract.
McKinstry’s contract is said to have been terminated on Saturday afternoon just two weeks after coming from his one-month suspension.
The former Sierra Leone coach who replaced Serbian Sebastian Desabre and led Cranes to 2021 African Nations Championship was held in high regard before the start of the tournament in Cameroon.
But after disgraceful CHAN exit coupled by their poor display in Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers has led to the FUFA’s hierarchy opting to move into a new direction.
“This has been a very difficult decision, and not one that the FUFA President Moses Magogo and Executive Committee have taken lightly,” a source at FUFA told Ducor Sports.
“We are grateful to McKinstry for what he has achieved in his time as Cranes head coach. However, recent results and performances have not met FUFA’s expectations, leaving the team without any clear path to sustained improvement.”
McKinstry becomes the latest national team coach to lose his job after Claude Le Roy (Togo), Molefi Ntseki (South Africa), Barthélémy Ngatsono ( Congo-Brazzavile) and Christian Nsengi-Biembe (DR Congo).
The Irishman was introduced to international football in April 2013 and led Sierra Leone into the top 50 teams on the Fifa world rankings and seventh in Africa the following year.
He later guided Rwanda to the final of the 2015 Cecafa (East and Central African) Championships in 2015 while also achieving the country’s highest placing at major tournament the following year.
McKinstry holds a Uefa Pro Licence and has coached on four continents including Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.
FUFA is expected to announce by the end of April the search of possible candidate to fill the position left by coach McKinstry and his staff.
