The Football Association of Rwanda (FERWAFA) has warned teams that won’t comply with Covid-19 safety regulations when the league resumes will face punitive sanctions that include expulsion or relegation to lower-tier competitions. The Rwanda Premier League was suspended by the Ministry of Sports on December 12, after three match days when some teams failed to comply with the Covid-19 guidelines, with some faking results of Covid-19 tests. On December 24, 2020, FERWAFA held a meeting with the First Division teams to discuss how they can resume the league in conformity with protocols regarding the prevention of Covid-19. Speaking to Times Sport, the President of Ferwafa, Jean Damascène Sekamana said that they plan to resume the league in February after putting in place measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. “The league was suspended because clubs did not follow the measures. We hope to get clearance from the government to restart the league when we are sure that clubs will adhere to the guidelines,” Sekamana said. He further added that Ferwafa and clubs in different leagues had reached an agreement to impose heavy penalties for whoever violates Covid-19 guidelines. These penalties include; expulsion from the league, relegation and fines. “Some clubs took the guidelines lightly because they thought the punishment for violation was not too much. We have however revised that and agreed on tougher punishments.” Some of the teams that have reported positive cases of Covid-19 in the topflight league are; Rayon Sports, APR FC, AS Kigali, Marines FC, Musanze FC, Rutsiro FC, Sunrise FC, AS Muhanga, Kiyovu Sports and Etincelles FC. Amagaju FC is the only club in the second division league that reported positive cases of Covid-19. Prior to the suspension of the Premier league after four matches played, Marines was top of the league table with 7 points, followed by Musanze with 6 points. Etincelles is third with 4 points while Gasogi is fourth with 3 points. Champions APR who had only played one match due to commitments in the CAF champions league are 7th with 3 points and had only played one match. Rayon Sports are 11th after having played one match against Rutsiro in which the blues were held 1-1 draw.
