Rwanda football: Short-termism cannot lead to sustainable results

Rwanda Football Association (Ferwafa) on Tuesday, March 29, unveiled Spaniard national Carlos Alós Ferrer as the new Head Coach of Amavubi. He replaces Vincent Mashami, who had taken over from German tactician Antoine Hey in 2018. The announcement was not something local football fans were looking forward to – particularly as football fans were only a few hours from knowing which countries would represent Africa at this year’s World Cup finals. In many ways, Alós’s appointment was pretty much a peripheral affair. But, perhaps, the most important factor behind the declining interest in the affairs of the national team is the fact that Amavubi are probably at their lowest point in competitive football in decades after collecting only a single point from a possible 18 points during the recent 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. Whether Alós’s unveiling was calculated to coincide with decisive World Cup matches or just a matter of coincidence, your guess is as good as mine. But one thing is certain. Carlos Alós Ferrer was not the most qualified on the 10-man shortlist of candidates. A man with no prior coaching experience at the senior national level and whose only elite club managerial roles were in Cyprus, Qatar, Morocco and Kazakhstan was clearly one of the least experienced of the lot. Overlooked candidates Indeed, in many people’s minds, the 46-year-old Spaniard stood no chance against the likes of Alain Giresse, the vastly experienced French journeyman who currently manages Kosovo and has previously served as head coach of Gabon, Senegal, Mali and Tunisia; or Sébastien Bernard Migné, the French coach who deputises Cameroon Head Coach Rigobert Song and has previously coached Republic of Congo, Kenya and Equatorial Guinea national teams. Or the likes of Hossam Mohamed El Badry, the former 62-year-old Egyptian trainer who recently coached his country’s senior football team, the Pharaohs, and has led top flight clubs in different countries to titles, including Egyptian giants Al Ahly with whom he won three league titles, three Egyptian Super Cups, the CAF Champions League, and the CAF Super Cup. Alós also lacks the pedigree of former Amavubi head coach Stephan Constantine, who guided Rwanda to its highest ever FIFA ranking (68th) and has previously managed Nepal, India and Sudan. Constantine, a coach of Greek-Cypriot descent, also previously worked with English clubs Millwall, where he was the first team coach, and AFC Bournemouth. However, experience alone is not enough in making such appointments. You’ve to look at the vision, cost implications, and other aspects of terms of service. Limited confidence? Yet, clearly, Alós’s limited experience was not lost on our football bosses considering he was only handed a one-year contract. Regardless of whether this is a good idea or not, it suggests limited confidence in the Spaniard. Well, at least for now. Vincent Mashami may not have been the right man to turn things around and finally get the Amavubi stinging again, but many will still find him more qualified than his successor. And, although the nationality of coaches is often overrated, it did not help matters that Alós was unveiled on the same day homegrown coaches qualified four of the five countries that will represent the continent at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. However, it would be naïve to think that a head coach can singlehandedly decide the fate of Rwanda football, or any sport, anywhere, for that matter. In Rwanda, there are several underlying issues that undermine our football. I will limit myself to five. First, lack of consistency in policy and decision-making: For instance, when Mashami was appointed head coach, one of the top Ferwafa officials at the time told the media that it was time to trust Rwandan coaches because they were able and had acquired the necessary experience. Four years on, we are back to square one. Indeed, it is telling that there was not a single Rwandan shortlisted for the Amavubi job. Yet, we continue to pursue the policy of using only homegrown players in the national team, albeit without laying the necessary foundations for that to happen. Different football clubs also have different policies. All the while naturalised players remain an integral part of our national basketball and volleyball teams. Clearly, there is a contradiction. Lack of continuity, big picture Second, a lack of continuity: Linked to the above is the issue of continuity, especially when new leaders come in. It’s okay for new leaders to set their own goals and devise their own strategies and roadmap toward achieving them but this should not necessarily mean discontinuing projects or initiatives left behind by your predecessors. It eventually erodes institutionalism and leads to a lack of direction. This has sometimes also happened in other sectors, like education, health and infrastructure. Third, inability to see the big picture: A lack of clear football development strategies and disjoined youth and grassroots structures constitute a major challenge. However, there is a glimmer of hope following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, on March 10, between Ferwafa and the Rwanda Schools Sports Federation, under which the former committed to provide technical know-how to systematically develop talent in primary and secondary schools. If it succeeds it could go a long way toward fostering talent detection and player pathway. Fourth, short-termism, instead of long-term planning: Sometimes, we deploy short-term strategies in the hope of achieving long-term goals. Or we plainly seek short-term gains at the expense of long-term prospects. A case in point is the decision to give a one-year contract to a new Amavubi head coach at a time you’d have expected a bold, three to four-year plan to rebuild the team after recent disastrous campaigns. Our football needs a new beginning; unfortunately, we’ll have to wait longer. If you’re not convinced he’s the right man for the job, why give it to him when you’ve got better candidates? If you think he’s the right pick, then give him the time he needs to do the job – and, of course, a well-crafted contract. Hopefully, Ferwafa and the Ministry of Sports will soon explain the rationale. Fifth, failure to harness the power of collaboration and collectivity: Perhaps due to inflated ego or a sense of insecurity, or both, some officials are unwilling to seek support and involvement of other stakeholders, including their predecessors, and in this case, even former players and other retired football figures. For example, it’s only until recently that former Amavubi players have been engaged by Ferwafa with a view to working with them to promote the sport. This is encouraging and I can only hope it was not a one-off. There is power in people coming together for a noble cause. And, in Rwanda, there is an abundance of goodwill that Ferwafa and the Ministry of Sports can leverage. There is a need for the current football leaders to take concrete steps toward addressing these and other challenges that undermine our game and help set us back on a path to football glory. To Carlos Alós Ferrer, I wish you all the best! The writer is the Managing Editor, The New Times.