Football officials announced on Thursday that controversial Belgian Paul Put has been named Uganda's new national coach, succeeding Milutin Sredojevic, who was fired last month.
Among the 120 coaches who applied for the position was the 67-year-old Put, whose career has been marred by scandal, including match-fixing allegations.
Following the Uganda Cranes' failure to advance to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations finals, Serbian Sredojevic was fired.
According to the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA), a two-year contract has been reached.
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"Coach Paul Put guided Guinea to a quarterfinal finish and also helped The Gambia to qualify for AFCON," FUFA chief Moses Magogo stated at a press conference in Kampala. "Coach Paul Put helped Burkina Faso reach the final of AFCON in 2013."
"With such a CV, we believe the coach will do a good job here."
He took over as manager of the Harambee Stars, the Kenyan national team, in November 2017 and left the position in February 2018.
Despite his claims that he was being used as a scapegoat, Put was handed a three-year suspension by the Belgian football federation in 2008 for his alleged involvement in a match-fixing scandal.
During his tenure as manager of Guinea's national team in 2019, he was also permanently barred from all football-related activities.
Before the 2026 World Cup qualifying tournament begins this month, Put will assume immediate leadership of the Cranes.
On November 17, Uganda will play Guinea in Conakry in the opening Group G qualifying match.
The other teams in the group are Botswana, Mozambique, Somalia, and Algeria, the former African champions.
