Mulisa in the dark over Amavubi role

With Johnny McKinstry having been sacked as Amavubi head coach about two months ago and his former assistant Jimmy Mulisa put in charge of just one game, the status of the national team’s hot seat remains unclear. The decision to sack the Northern Irishman was reached following Amavubi’s poor run of results while Mulisa, who was Mckinstry’s assistant was only asked to take up the role for the 2017 AFCON return leg qualifier against Ghana. “At the moment, there is nothing I have been told, I have no idea and I do not know what is the next plan from both the Ministry of Sports and FERWAFA. What I am doing is to work with FERWAFA as a technical director,” Mulisa told Times Sport This week, while other national teams are engaged in international matches, including friendlies and 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia qualifiers, Mulisa admits that he could not push for any friendly match because his task was only to lead the team during the Accra trip. Amavubi bowed out of all the FIFA/CAF competitions this year, including; the 2017 AFCON and FIFA World Cup qualifiers leaving them with only CECAFA Senior Challenge later this year. As a former player, Mulisa understands that friendlies give coaches the opportunity to experiment with team selection and tactics before competitive games, and also allow them to assess the abilities of players they may potentially select for the tournament squad. A good case in point is that the Wasps would use this international break to plan ahead of the 2016 CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup scheduled to take place in Kenya in December. Playing against the likes of Burundi or Tanzania would be good preparation for the regional tournament. On the other hand, it would raise the Amavubi status in international FIFA rankings. Last month; Rwanda climbed 14 places from 121 to 107, however; Amavubi’s ranking is likely to drop because of not engaging in any friendly games. However, when asked about the vacant Amavubi head coach job, Emmanuel Bugingo, the Director of Sports in the Ministry of Sports and Culture, said, “To appoint a new head coach is a process, we have to design a profile for the kind of person that we want to recruit and we are doing that.” “What I cannot be precise about is the exact date and period when the process will be finalised, but we are not sleeping,” Bugingo further explained. Since 2014, Amavubi head coach position has been held by five coaches including: Stephen Constantine (2014-15), Lees Johnson (2015 interim), Johnny McKinstry (2015-16), Gilbert Kanyankore (2016 interim) and Jimmy Mulisa (2016 interim). editorial@newtimes.co.rw