Challenge to Harambee Stars? Uganda Unveil Colossal Cranes Budget for AFCON 2027 Preparations

As East Africa prepares for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, Uganda is putting its best foot forward to ensure the national team impresses at home.

Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will co-host the tournament and there is a need for all three nations to make it to the knockout round and beyond.

That calls for good preparations and Uganda have set aside a huge budget for the Cranes, who will be featuring in a second successive AFCON, following their participation at the 2025 tournament.

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Perhaps with their poor performance in Morocco in mind, Uganda do not want to take chances with their home tournament and have allocated the Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA) UGX12.5 billion (Ksh433 million) for the Cranes’ AFCON 2027 preparations.

Meanwhile, Uganda Premier League clubs will receive a grant worth UGX5.5 billion (Ksh191 million) to prepare players for AFCON 2027.

Uganda is keen for the Cranes to begin early preparations and want to provide the best conditions for them to succeed.

It is a challenge perhaps for co-hosts Kenya and Tanzania, who are yet to unveil their plans or budgets for the national team preparations towards AFCON 2027.

Tanzania will be featuring in a third straight AFCON next year, having played at the 2023 tournament and in Morocco last year, when they made it to the Round of 16 for the first time in their history.

Meanwhile, Kenya will be returning to the continental tournament for the first time since 2019, having missed the 2021, 2023 and 2025 editions.

At the time, the Kenyan government allocated Harambee Stars Ksh244 million for their AFCON preparations but the budget is likely to be huge this time as the country looks to impress on home soil.

Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy has already made it known that he is looking to guide Kenya past the group stage and possibly the quarter-final, where they have never been in their previous six AFCON appearances, and that will need not just a good squad but also great preparations.