Vincent Mashami, head coach of the national football team Amavubi, has voiced concerns over the tight schedule of matches his team is headed for as continental football edges closer to resumption. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced this month that qualifiers for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will resume early November. This is in addition to the African Nations Championships (CHAN) finals tournament that is due to take place in January 2021, in Cameroon, which will be followed by qualifiers for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. In an exclusive interview on Thursday, Mashami told Times Sport that the schedule of the upcoming fixtures is difficult, given the fact that players have been out of action for almost six months because of the Covid-19 pandemic. So far we do not even know when we will start preparations, yet the matches resume in two months, said Mashami. And when we start, the preparations may not be enough since [ideally] a player needs about 8 weeks of training before they can go for competitions. But with this pandemic, we may not have that time, he said. Rwandas first match, in the rescheduled AFCON qualifiers, will be against Cape Verde in the second week of November. Mashami faces a daunting task to guide Amavubi to the biggest football tournament in Africa following his side’s poor start in the qualifiers campaign where Rwanda lost its first two matches against Mozambique and Cameroon in Group F. Mozambique and Cameroon jointly top the group with 4 points each, while Cape Verde is third with 2 points. When we get the opportunity to prepare, we will start with the most basic things like fitness exercises because players have not trained for a long time, Mashami further added.
