Last week’s announcement by the Ministry of Sports calling on federations with oversight on team sports to submit requests for resumption of games and training came as a huge boost for the sports sector. A number of sports federations that Times Sports spoke to, revealed that they have already submitted their provisional preventive measures against Covid-19 as they run against the clock to resume competitions instead of declaring the season null and void. Each federation is now requested to submit a list of all teams/clubs that are expected to play in the league/ championships and related preventive measures to be enforced. Getting a ‘go ahead’, however, will depend on the outcomes from a joint assessment with the Ministry of Health on proposed preventive measures against covid-19 to be implemented in their respective disciplines. Vaccinating players and staff from all federations could be yet another huge boost for the tournaments to resume any time soon, as long as federations present a clear plan complying with Covid-19 preventive guidelines set by both Ministries of Sports and Health. Some federations are putting things in order as they wait for approval to resume competitions: Times Sport examines the readiness of different Sports federations Football To date, Ferwafa claims to have submitted a detailed plan last month which conforms to all requirements that the Ministry of Sports demanded for the league to resume. However, it remains unclear when exactly the league will return. Recently, Ferwafa spokesperson Jules Karangwa said they are looking into the possibility of putting clubs into groups as soon as the league resumes instead of calling it off. Whatever format, the Primus Football League, which was suspended in December after three match days, could resume after players return from international duty. Rwanda is playing two AFCON 2021 qualifiers against Mozambique on Wednesday, March 24 and Cameroon a week later, bidding to book a ticket for AFCON 2021 finals in Cameroon. Cricket The Rwanda Cricket Association (RCA) is confident that there is still time to play all Cricket tournaments available on the Cricket governing competitions list as emphasized by Emma Byiringiro, the RCA General Manager. He, however, said that the delayed calendar of competitions could halt the federation’s development initiatives in schools. “There are high chances that the U-15 Cricket tournaments won’t be organised because we don’t have enough time for all the competitions,” Byiringiro told Times Sport. Basketball According to the National Basketball Federation’s recently released season calendar, the Basketball season was supposed to start on Friday, March 19. The federation was, according to FERWABA President Desire Mugwiza, hoping to resume competitions starting with the pre-season tournament that was expected to kick off last weekend. However, the approval to resume was delayed and the federation is now revising the calendar vis-à-vis to when the approval is available. “We couldn’t start the preseason without approval from the Sports Ministry. But we hope to kick off the Basketball season as soon as our proposed preventive measures are approved,” Mugwiza said. Volleyball The volleyball season, too, was supposed to kick off on Sunday, March 21, but the game’s governing body (FRVB) was forced to hold on until they get approval from the Ministry of Sports. “I believe it won’t take long for us to begin volleyball league and other competitions. The fact that there is a possibility that competitions could resume as long as we comply with the set preventive measures is a huge boost to us,” said Christian Hatumimana, the Executive Secretary of the federation. Tennis This publication has learned that the tournament that the Tennis Federation is expecting to organise soon is the Genocide Memorial tourney which normally happens after the Commemoration. “Our players are now focused on preparing for the competitions in which they will participate in June and July. We are waiting for the Ministry of Sports’ guidelines before planning for the new season’s calendar for local competitions,” said Valens Habimana, the Secretary General of Rwanda Tennis Federation.
