New rugby boss promises big for the game

NEWLY elected Rwanda Rugby federation president, Dr. Otto Vianney Muhinda has promised to revamp the sport in the country during his four year term at the helm. Muhinda replaced long-serving Alexis Kamanzi. And in his first interview with Times Sport, the new boss outlined his three-phase masterplan that he believes, if well implemented, will take the sport to a whole new level. He described the first phase of his masterplan as securing sponsorship for the league and other tournaments, the second as to popularize the game by developing it in schools (primary, secondary and higher institutions of learning) and the third will be to get a permanent playground for matches. He said, “Rugby has lagged behind other sports for some time and this is my major concern.” “That’s why my immediate assignment is to revamp the game in three phases and that is by securing permanent sponsorship for the league, popularize the game in the whole country by promoting rugby in schools from primary level to universities and getting a permanent ground for matches,” noted the 42-year-old veterinary doctor. Dr. Muhinda, who is a trained (rugby) referee and former vice president of local side Sharks, said that they also plan to organise regional tournaments to attract fans. “We (him and his team) want to see the fan base (of the rugby) in the country increase significantly but to be able to achieve that, we need to start organizing regional tournaments here (Rwanda). That is one of our major immediate targets,” added Muhinda. The new president will be deputized by Alex Araire (first vice president in-charge of Marketing), Henry Umwera as (second vice president in-charge of Technical matters), and Janvier Ugeziwe as Secretary General. Gerald Nsenga was moved from vice president (Technical) to the newly created post of National Technical Director. Others are Geoffrey Kayonga as Treasurer and Jean Baptist Itanzi as Assistant Technical Director. Ends

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New rugby boss promises big for the game