By Kei Emmanuel Duku
South Sudan Football governing (body SSFA), has confirmed, Nicholas Dupuis, the Head Coach for the national team will be available in today’s clash with Uganda Cranes in Kampala.
It was previously reported that the coach left the country for an undisclosed location at a critical moment when he was supposed to train the national team for the TotalEngeries 2025 AFCON qualifiers against Uganda Cranes in Kampala and Juba.
While speaking to the media in Juba on Thursday afternoon, the Chairperson of the National Team Committee, Michael Margan dismissed rumours indicating that the coach left the team due to unpaid salaries.
Margan further confirmed that the Coach will be on the touchline today and he will travel to Juba over the weekend to continue with the preparation for the return fixtures in Juba Stadium on Tuesday 15th 10, 2024.
“Since he (Nicholas Dupuis) transferred his family to France he has been facing a lot of challenges and the case of his daughter is not exceptional, this is not something worth sharing with the media because it is his private life but the media twisted his absence to something else only. Unfortunately, it also conceded with our national team’s programs,” explained Margan.
Margan explained that while the Coach was away from the County, he was still working with his Assistant Coach and the entire Technical team.
He added that 26 men’s final squad released by the football association was selected by Coach Nicholas to allow his Assistant Coach to continue with the training while in his absence.
The domestic players summoned into to National team for today’s clash against Uganda departed Juba on Wednesday afternoon for Kampala and they were joined in the camps by 12 other players from Uganda and Kenya together with Nicholas Dupuis.
“Our players are fit, they have been training here (Juba), and those in Uganda and Kenya have been participating in their various leagues, there should be no course of alarm, fans have been complaining about the issue of coordination while playing but this is not the first time, they-players have been playing together for long and they know each other well,” added Margan.
Meanwhile, South Sudan Football Association Secretary General, Victor Lawrence Lual clarified that all domestic players summoned honoured the call including foreign players only that the period for preparation was short and could not allow the foreign players to travel to Juba.
He explained that there are two types of FIFA windows: Off FIFA windows and Mid-Week FIFA windows.
Off FIFA weeks occur when international matches are played, allowing players to join their national teams after the conclusion of club activities. During these windows, players typically receive more than a week for training and preparation.
In contrast, Mid-Week FIFA windows provide national teams with less than a week to prepare for international matches.
Lual however, urged sports lovers across the country to formalize themselves with FIFA Programs rather than blaming the association for summoning players late for camping and training.
“We are not operating on an Island, we (SSFA) can’t summon players before the FIFA Weeks, the fans are used to the old systems where over 50 players are summoned and the Coach starts to screen the players but things don’t walk like that, for today’s game against Uganda, players have less than 3 days, how do you expect the players to travel, train and again travel play in Uganda, we will continue to adhere to FIFA rules and regulations,” stated Lual.