No leniency on players with dual identity, says Habineza

The Minister of Sports and Culture, Joseph Habineza has warned that the government will not have any leniency when it comes to handling national team players with dual identity. Habineza made the remarks during a press briefing held at Amahoro stadium on Wednesday. “So many mistakes were done in the past and we can’t afford to repeat them. The issue of players with dual identity and false age has to end immediately,” the minister ordered. Habineza revealed that with help of other stakeholders, the ministry will ensure that no leniency is exercised because “if we don’t do this at this moment, we will be wasting time and resources just like we have done in the past.” Habineza explained that he has asked Rwanda Football Federation (Ferwafa) to clear the mess, and with the assistance of the Immigration office and National ID project, the work is in progress. “I know we have used foreign players on our national team but that should not happen again. We have to accept change, move on and put an end to these mistakes. By doing so, this will motivate us to identify and groom our own players from the grassroots,” he stated. Habineza called upon all sports federations and associations to produce tangible plans which will see the country produce young players. “I have been tasked to produce a tangible plan which will develop sports from the grassroots. Therefore, all federations have been told to give us their plans such that we send them to the government for funding,” he added.