Football governing body (FERWAFA) president Olivier Nizeyimana on Wednesday had a discussion with members of the Former Amavubi Players’ Association (FAPA) on cooperation toward the development of Rwandan football as part of concerted efforts to bring the national team back to their glory days. The partnership will, according to Ferwafa, focus on leveraging the experience of FAPA members in various stages of development of football in Rwanda from capacity building for coaches, referees and other technicians, youth competitions, talent search for youngsters and Rwandans playing abroad. Mugabo had indicated in the past that he wanted to meet former players to not only involve them in the local football development but also put an end to speculation that Ferwafa didn’t want to engage them in initiates aimed at reviving Rwandan football. Ferwafa Secretary General Henry Muhire, who was part of the meeting, told Times Sport that the discussions were held in such a friendly way that both sides came to agree on the rationale behind involving former players in football development toward building a stronger national football team. “It was obvious that some former players want to contribute to the development of our football. Some are doing so as coaches or referees but we want to look at this partnership besides just coaching. They have a lot to offer and we need their advice and ideas to be able to build our football. Through this new partnership, the future of the game is bright,” Muhire said in an interview. The former players who were at the meeting include FAPA president Eugene Murangwa, his deputy and football coach Eric Nshimiyimana and veteran football referee Michel Gasingwa. After the meeting, Murangwa told this publication that the discussions showed the federation’s will to integrate former players in the development of Rwandan football, something that local football has been lacking for the past two decades. “There were signs that the federation was willing to have a partnership with us. We felt welcomed as opposed to the past. The discussions were friendly and we hope to build on that momentum and come up with proper solutions to our football,” he said. This is the beginning and we look forward to working together to build the development of Rwandan football. We still have a long way to go to be able to properly put in place mechanisms together to bring our football back to where it belongs. There are activities we plan to do, some are already in place and I think the time is now to look at how we can work closely with the federation to do more for a better future of the game,” he added. The former Rwanda football players formed an Association in January last year with the aim of offering their contribution in football development in the country. Over a hundred veteran footballers registered to join the association. Among prominent members of the association are former Amavubi coaches Eric Nshimiyimana, Jean-Baptiste Kayiranga and Jimmy Mulisa, former Amavubi skipper Desire Mbonabucya, as well as legendary strikers Jimmy Gatete and Olivier Karekezi.
