Belgian coach, Paul Joseph Put has been appointed as the new coach of Uganda Cranes Head coach.

This appointment was confirmed on Thursday November 2, 2023, by the Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA) during a press conference at FUFA House in Mengo.

The 67-year old  replaces  Serbian coach Milutin Sredojević, who has been in charge of the team until September 2023.

Put asked to be given time, and confidence to make a difference in the Uganda Crane team.

According to Moses Magogo, the FUFA president, they rolled out the application process and got over 150 coaches including two Ugandans who applied for the job. However Put was more qualified than the rest.

“After thorough analysis, the FUFA Executive zeroed down on Mr. Paul Put and we believe he will do a good job,” said Magogo.

The Belgian coach trained national teams in countries like Gambia (2008 -2011), Burkina Faso (2012-2015), Kenya (2017-2018), Equatorial Guinea (2018-2019), and Congo (2021) among others. He was able to lead the Burkina Faso team to the semi-finals of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations held in South Africa.

Additionally Put will appoint his own backroom staff and he will be coming with other five people from Belgium.

The five include; Sven De Wilde performance manager, Mathieu Denis physical fitness coach, Grey Osste Goalkeeping coach, Martin Michiel physiotherapist, and Jelle Sevenhant
video analyst.

However, Magogo said there will be Ugandans who will also work as part of the backroom staff and they will be communicated later.

The upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers where Uganda will face Guinea and Somalia with both games to be played in Morocco will be the first task for coach Put.