If there is something that brought smiles back to APR FC fans’ faces recently, it is the day the club opened doors to the return of foreign players. And they couldn’t hide their joy when the military side held its first open training session on Friday evening, July 21, at Kigali Pele stadium. Frenchman Thierry Froger was putting players through their paces in what was his first training session hours after he was unveiled as club’s new head coach on a one-year deal. The session attracted thousands of supporters who thronged the stadium with happy faces watching a number of new players training ahead of the new season. The likes of Ugandan midfielder Taddeo Lwanga, Sharaf Shaiboub, Ismail ‘Pichou’ Nshimirimana, Danny Ndikumana, Apam Assongwe Bemol and goalie Pavelh Nzila were the new faces in the team that took part in Friday’s training session while while Victor Chukwuemeka and Bienvenue Banga are expected to join the group next week. The majority of the club’s new signings are foreign players who joined the club this transfer window bringing a decade-long ‘home grown players only’ policy to an end. With the current group of players at Froger’s disposal, APR fans have got a reason to smile again, with confidence that the team can finally conquer African club football against elite clubs like CAF Champions League reigning champions Al Ahly, finalists Wydad, Mamelodi Sundowns, Esperance de Tunis and East African giants Simba SC among others after years of failures. The atmosphere inside the stadium was so welcoming with fans cheering on players from the stands before moving to the pitch singing for the club's new management led by Lt Col Richard Karasira who was also in attendance. “This shows that the management of the club has listened to what we’ve been asking them: to change the direction, to be more visionary and look beyond just the country,” Rwandan journalist Athan Tashobya, an avid APR FC supporter, told Times Sport. “We are going to see thousands of fans coming back to the stadium for the game,” he added. READ ALSO: Thierry Froger unveiled as APR FC boss The huge turnout at APR’s training session was a testament of how much the supporters have missed a very competitive team in the club which has won everything domestically but in Africa. All that the fans wanted was ‘change’ in the club’s transfer policy which used to solely rely on Rwandan players since the 2012/2013 season. It's great to see APR FC embracing change and bringing in new talent from outside Rwanda, said club supporter Félicien Nsengumuremyi. We've been waiting for this for a long time, and we're excited to see what these new players can bring to the team. With the change of transfer policy Ruth Murekatete is confident that it is time the club shifted its domestic dominance to African club football. The signing of foreign players is a sign that APR FC is serious about competing at the highest level. We've always had a strong team locally, but now we have the opportunity to take our game to the next level and compete with the best teams in Africa. APR, the reigning champions of the Rwanda Premier League, will play their first competitive game of the 2023/24 season on August 12 when they face traditional rivals and 2023 Peace Cup winners Rayon Sports in the Super Cup. Against the Blues, coach Froger hopes to test his players as he looks to find his first eleven head of new season
