What’s a wasp without its sting? Just another harmless insect. The terror of its fearsome sting is gone. Everyone can play with it, tease and taunt it, and swat it away without even looking. Lately, Amavubi, the national football team, have lost theirs. Not that there was much of it anyway. Only in brief moments did we ever see their potential for a potent sting. And now even that little has vanished. We saw this on Thursday, October 7 when they lost 0-1 to the Uganda Cranes at home in Kigali. All they could manage was a silent, tired buzz around the Cranes. Never stung, not even once, to make their opponents wince in discomfort or run away in fear of the next, more powerful jab. Never even threatened. In the second leg on Sunday, October 10 they showed slightly more urgency but again no sting and lost by the same margin. It was a lacklustre performance and caused outrage among Rwandan football lovers and supporters of Amavubi. Some, among them the most fanatical supporters, were heard swearing never to watch another match where Amavubi are playing. It is a matter of concern when your own vow to turn their backs on you. The outrage is understandable. The team were lethargic, lacked energy and passion and appeared unlikely to score. And then this particular fixture is one you don’t want to lose. It is like a local derby. Passion and other emotions run high among players and fans alike. Some would rather die than lose a local derby. But on Thursday the players showed a total lack of passion and conviction. There was no drive, no commitment to the task. The desire to win was missing. It was totally unRwandan. Clearly, there is something wrong with Rwandan football at the moment. All other games are on the up, but football continues to decline. Pundits and a host of other critics have pointed to different reasons for this state of affairs in the most popular sport in the country. Some have faulted the lack of a national football development programme for this situation. True, a football academy exists, built with FIFA funding, but its results are not visible. Yet there is no shortage of talent. It is not clear how and from where talented young players for the academy are identified. Clubs, too, ought to have their own academies or some kind of football development structures. I don’t know how many do. They should learn from football clubs in other places. The most successful have youth development programmes. They groom the young people into stars that move into the first team or sold to other clubs for a good fee and earn income for the club. Schools are a sort of academy. But few have the facilities or time for developing the sport. As we have said before in this column, this is the most logical starting point for a coherent and sustainable development programme. Others point to the lack of sports facilities at the grassroots. Every kid I know plays football from the moment they learn to walk. They do it in their family courtyard, on dusty streets, footpaths and any other available patch of earth. But these spaces are limited, especially in urban areas where there is a larger concentration of children. Our urban planners have not yet deemed it necessary to provide for recreational space. That is beginning to change, though, with the development of public leisure parks. But we also need playgrounds in housing estates, more youth sports facilities like the Maison des Jeunes in Kimisagara before we even get to schools and academies. Fingers have also been pointed at the mismanagement of sports associations and federations for the poor performance. It is said many of their managers are more interested in personal gain than the promotion of the sport. As a result, many of them are torn by divisions and endless wrangles among the leadership and take up a lot of time and effort to resolve. Little time is left to attend to the core business of the different federations – sport. Failure often attracts blame. It is always easy to find fault with someone and blame them for the team’s shortcomings. Often unfairly. Sometimes deserved. In this respect, the coach is a convenient target for flak from all directions. Fans take out their frustrations on him. Sports administrators deflect responsibility on him. Sometimes the players too. It must be a tough job, being a football manager. You have to sympathise with them. Here is an individual who is trained in his field, has a philosophy and style of the game that he has developed, believes in and wants to execute. Then he gets all manner of advice from all kinds of people, even those with very little or no knowledge of football. To succeed he must have a thick skin so all the flak can bounce off and a stubborn streak to stick to his convictions and plans and remain focussed on the task. But since he cannot silence the voices, he must also be smart enough to recognise some good from the unsolicited advice and where necessary take it on board. That is what makes a good manager – managing the team as well as popular expectations. Players have not been spared either. Before they make a name for themselves, they are all energetic and enthusiastic and willing to work and improve. But the moment they become household names attitudes change. The fighting spirit disappears. It seems fame and a little wealth go to the head too easily and they stop applying themselves. That marks the end of the desire to win. These reasons and more may account for the current state of football in Rwanda. But the long and short of it is that something must be done to arrest the decline. And soon. Restore the sting and make it more potent. The views expressed in this article are of the writer.
