Rwandans on Tuesday night celebrated passionately after Amavubi stormed the quarterfinals of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) 2020 in Cameroon. This was the first time the national team was progressing past the group stage of the competition – reserved for footballers who ply their trade within their countries – on foreign soil. The victory left Amavubi unbeaten at the showpiece so far, having previously drawn against neighbours Uganda and reigning champions Morocco. But what made the win even sweeter was the manner in which it came. Few would have expected the Amavubi to score 3 goals, twice coming from behind before deservedly running away with all the three points. Prior to the fixture Amavubi had gone 15 months without scoring a goal in a competitive match and were winless in 10 outings or so. And, with the Rwandan football league suspended for lengthy spells due to the Covid-19 pandemic, most of the players’ fitness levels were below par heading into the competition, despite playing two friendly games against Congo-Brazzaville, drawing one and losing the other. Add the playing kit scandal and alleged theft that emerged just as the team started its CHAN finals campaign, the embarrassing mix-up in squad numbers and the fact Rwanda was the second lowest ranked country among the teams that qualified for the showpiece and everything seemed to conspire against the Amavubi. From a football perspective, you’d understand the level of excitement with which the news of their qualification was received. Throw in Covid-19 and all the hardships it has come with and this rare positive development overwhelmed some fans, who ended up engaging in unacceptable and illegal celebrations. No sooner had the final whistle gone than hundreds of jubilant fans suddenly poured onto streets of a few Kigali suburbs, including Nyamirambo, in breach of a lockdown that seeks to slow the spread of Covid-19. Many of them had no masks on, they observed no social distance and hugged and crammed themselves into (and onto) cars that dangerously zigzagged across lanes in packed streets. Police would later describe the celebrations “reckless”. Nothing, not even the CHAN title that the Amavubi are still in contention for, can justify the kind of irresponsible celebrations we saw on Tuesday night. Ironically, that was the same day that the country recorded the highest number of Covid-19 cases in a single day (574) since novel coronavirus was first detected in March last year. We all love it when our teams and flag bearers go out there and do us proud but we must understand that this virus does not take a break from spreading to allow people to celebrate together. Previously, we have celebrated our teams and athletes’ feats together, with fitting fanfare, including receiving them at the airport and carrying them through the streets aloft. But this is a time like no other. We are in the midst of a deadly pandemic and under no circumstances should we find ourselves distracted.
