Tucak’s future still in balance

AMAVUBI Stars head coach Branko Tucak will know his fate before the end of this week, Times Sport has learnt.After failing to qualify Rwanda to next year’s Africa Nations Cup (CAN) in Angola, there is an increasing assumption that the axe in going to fall on the under-fire Croat. But Sports and Culture Minister Joseph Habineza is leaving the decision open. He told this paper that Tucak’s future will be decided before the end of the week. “You will know after we have met with the football authorities,” he said yesterday. Habineza, who had kept faith in the coach, last month confirmed that the Croat would face the axe if the national team failed to qualify for Angola. “We know exactly what was asked of him. His task was simple; to qualify Rwanda for the 2010 CAN. Presently, we still have a chance.” “However, should the team fail to reach Angola, he will have failed in his task and appropriate actions will be taken,” the Minister said on October 25 at Alpha Palace Hotel. The 57-year-old replaced his compatriot Josip Kuze, who quit last year in January to join Japanese side JEF United Chiba. In his first assignment, Amavubi failed to go past the preliminary round of the African Nations Championship qualifiers after a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Sudan in Khartoum. Last December, the team also failed to progress past the group stages of the regional Cecafa Challenge Cup which was hosted and won by Uganda. His only achievement came when he helped Rwanda qualify for the second round of the World and Nations Cup qualifiers after finishing second in Group Eight which had Mauritania, Ethiopia and Morocco. But that was about it as Amavubi went on to lose four of their six Group C games. The team managed two points out of a possible 18. Ends

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Tucak’s future still in balance