Goalkeeper Olivier Kwizera is under increasing pressure from Rayon Sports’ supporters following an ‘unnecessary’ blunder that cost his club a win during their 1-1 draw against Gasogi United last week.

Rayon entered the last 10 minutes of the game leading by 1-0 through Ernest Sugira’s penalty and were hoping to take home all three points only for the shot-stopper to trip Gasogi striker Hassan Kikoyo while running to the ball in the penalty area after the former failed to control the ball from his box.

Kwizera had the ball out of the penalty box and, when he was under pressure from Kikoyo, he had options to either put the ball in the corner or pass it to his teammates. Instead, he lobbed it past Kikoyo trying to return it to the penalty area so he could take it with hands.

The Gasogi striker protected the ball and Kwizera tripped him down in the penalty box only for the referee to award a spot kick which Kikoyo converted well in the 86th minute, a scenario that left the goalkeeper’s teammates, supporters and head coach Guy Bukasa frustrated.

Coach Bukasa dropped him from his starting lineup during last weekend’s 3-1 defeat to AS Kigali.

The Blues’ supporters are convinced that Kwizera is a gifted goalkeeper but are ‘angry and tired’ of his errors.

Some claim that Kwizera’s blunder was evitable and hence feel suspicious that there was something behind the fact that the goalkeeper was trying to help his former club.

"I think he had a secret agreement with KNC [Kwizera’s former employer at Gasogi] before the game.  It was far worse than his howler against Ivory Coast [during AFCON qualifier in 2018]. It is difficult to accuse him of corruption but that mistake makes everyone think that something is amiss,” says Rayon supporter Jean Claude Bikorimana.

"The coach was right to drop him [during the AS Kigali defeat] to give him time to think about what he did,” he added.  

Kwizera is arguably regarded as one of the best local goalkeepers and is the number one for Vincent Mashami’s national team but with the howler, the goalkeeper’s position between the sticks looks uncertain both for club and country.

A big number of Rayon supporters are angry with the goalkeeper as the faith they had in his capability to inspire the club to a league title which they last won in 2018 are increasingly fading.

"You can’t win a league title with such reckless performance. Kwizera’s showing in the Gasogi game was poor. I would rather use the second choice goalkeeper (Abouba Bashunga) instead of sticking with such a man who is not loyal to the team,” said John Kagabo, another Rayon sports fan.

Kwizera’s goalkeeping errors

Kwizera has been criticised before for committing similar mistakes including a howler that cost Amavubi a 1-2 home defeat to Ivory Coast in September 2018 during an Africa Cup of Nations qualification tie after he failed to dribble past striker Jonathan Kodjia only for the striker to take the ball from him and score the winner.

That mistake caused the national team head coach Vincent Mashami to drop him from his competitive squads for about two years.

That was ten days after the former APR FC goalkeeper committed a last-minute howler (90+5 mins) to hand Cape Town City a late 2-2 draw against his former club Free State Stars during the South African Absa Premiership.

Kwizera was at fault for Stars’ opening goal, but the Free State side looked to have sealed victory after coming from behind, that was until another mistake by the keeper in injury time cost them again.

He was since frozen out of the national team’s squad for over two years by head coach Vincent Mashami. He rejoined the squad in November last year, as a result of a stellar performance that he enjoyed during his time at Gasogi United last season.

His form attracted Rayon Sports who signed him to replace Yves Kimenyi between the sticks, after the latter joined Kiyovu SC last season on a record transfer fee of Rwf 16 million.

His late tackle on striker Yakhouba Barry out of the box also saw Amavubi reduced to 10 men after he was sent off in a scenario that cost Rwanda the chance of playing in the semi-finals of the 2021 African Nations Championships (CHAN) for the first time after they were eliminated by Guinea through Morlaye Sylla’s winner.