The national football governing body, Ferwafa has issued tough sanctions for teams that will violate Covid-19 guidelines ahead of the league resumption. There are reports that the Rwanda Premier League will resume after the commemoration of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. The commemoration week starts on April 7 and ends on April 13. On Monday, FERWAFA released a document that set new tough penalties and fines for teams that will violate the new Covid-19 guidelines. FERWAFA will pay for the Covid-19 Rapid Test for 40 people per club and both the players and non-playing staff will be required to stay in camp after matches. Teams that fail to take covid-19 tests will have their matches canceled and the opposing team will be given a 2-0 win, while the match the commissioner will be suspended for five (5) years. Before returning to camp, each team will inform the FERWAFA where they will hold training sessions and Ferwafa will visit those sites to ensure that the venue has all the facilities needed to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The League was suspended by the Ministry of Sports on December 12, after three match days when some teams failed to comply with Covid-19 guidelines, with some faking results of Covid-19 tests. Hefty fines Football clubs are also required to test their players again after five days from the time the players go into residential camp. Clubs will also cater for the testing of staff who exceed the threshold that Ferwafa will cater for. Delay in delivering results of the covid-19 Rapid test for the match-day and not using a van designated to transport the team from training and match days will attract a fine of Rwf200, 000. Any player or official caught leaving the residential camp will be fined Rwf500,000 and banned for two matches. Any team that violates all the regulations will be banned from any football activities for a year. Covid-19 tests for players and officials will take place on match days at the stadium where the match will be played and the results will be given to a FERWAFA representative at least 3 hours before the start of the match. Meanwhile, Ferwafa has changed the substitution rule for this season and will allow five substitutions, however, each team is allowed to substitute no more than 3 times during the game except when the team chooses to substitute during half-time. 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.
