Uganda name controversial Belgian Paul Put as new coach

Uganda have appointed controversial Belgian Paul Put as national coach in place of Milutin Sredojevic, who was sacked last month, football officials said on Thursday.

The 67-year-old Put, whose career has been tarnished by scandal including alleged match-fixing, was among 120 coaches who applied for the job.

Serbian Sredojevic was fired after the Uganda Cranes failed to qualify for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations finals.

The Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) said it had agreed a two-year contract.

"Coach Paul Put helped Burkina Faso reach the final of AFCON in 2013, guided Guinea to a quarterfinal finish and also helped The Gambia to qualify for AFCON," FUFA chief Moses Magogo said at a press conference in Kampala.

"With such a CV, we believe the coach will do a good job here."

He was the Kenyan national team, Harambee Stars, manager from November 2017 before resigning from the post in February 2018.

In 2008, Put was given a three-year ban by Belgium's football federation for alleged involvement in a match-fixing scandal, although he has said he was a scapegoat.

Guinea also banned him from all football activity for life in 2019 when he was in charge of their national team.

Put will take immediate charge of the Cranes ahead of this month's start of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Uganda play Guinea in the first Group G qualifying match in Conakry on November 17.

The other teams in the group are former African champions Algeria, as well as Botswana, Mozambique and Somalia.