Today

REG Vs IPRC-East 4pm

Gisagara volleyball club have confirmed that they will not be defending their title after pulling out of this year’s Carre d’As tournament within hours before kick-off.

In a letter addressed to Rwanda Volleyball Federation on Thursday night, Gisagara explained that, "Some of our key (foreign) players are not in the country yet, we had hoped they would arrive in time for our first game but it didn’t work out.”

The said three players are; Niger international Djibril Doudou Adamou, DR Congo-born setter Ben Nakavoua Rhommel, and Burundian Ivan Dukundane.

The two-time league champions were due to face UTB in their opener on Friday evening at NPC Gymnasium before taking on lowly IPRC-East and Rwanda Energy Group (REG) on Saturday.

With Gisagara’s sudden withdrawal, the tournament is left with three teams, and they will face each other in a round-robin format to determine the best two teams who will meet in the final on Sunday.

Gisagara won last year’s title, in men’s category, after edging REG in a five-set thriller.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com