Money was not the reason to suspend She-Amavubi - Rwemalika

The head of Rwanda women football, Felicite Rwemalika has denied reports that lack of money is the main reason She-Amavubi will not participate in international competitions next year. Rwanda football federation (Ferwafa), during its general assembly that sat two weeks ago, decided that both the senior national women’s team and U-17 side will not participate in the 2015 Fifa/Caf competitions. Following that decision, numerous conspiracy theories have been put forward by advocates of women sports; with some suggesting that Ferwafa and the Ministry of Sports and Culture don’t accord women footballers the same value as their male counterparts. Rwemalika, who was part of the general assembly that took the decision, said that reason behind withdrawing She-Amavubi from international competitions was to give women football enough time to rebuild its structures on a firm foundation, which would allow them to compete well in future. “The decision was not taken because of lack of adequate budget as people say, we needed time to first sit back, take stock of what we have done in the last couple of years and prepare our structures from the grassroots level,” she told Sunday Sport in an interview. She added: “Once we’re back on the international scene in 2016, we want to be able to compete favorably in all Fifa and Caf competitions at all levels.” Félicité Rwemalika. However, Rwemalika confirmed that the national women football league will still run normally—AS Kigali, coached by Grace Nyinawumutu have won the title for the last five consecutive seasons. She-Amavubi eliminated Kenya in the first round of 2014 AFCON qualifiers in April but in June were thrashed by eight-time champions Nigeria on 12-1 aggregate over two legs of the second and final round of qualifiers. African women championships (AWC) 2014 will be hosted in Namibia from October 11 to 25, with the top three qualifying for 2015 Fifa World Cup in Canada. editorial@newtimes.co.rw