2018 Agaciro Cup Friday APR Vs Etincelles 15:30 AS Kigali Vs Rayon Sports 18:00 Sunday Third place play-off Loser 1 Vs Loser 2 13:00 Final Winner 1 Vs Winner 2 15:30 The annual Agaciro Development Fund (AgDF) football tournament will see an upgrade from the current format of four teams to eight teams effective next year, Rwanda Football Association, Ferwafa has confirmed. The development comes just two days before this year’s edition kicks off, on Friday, at Amahoro Stadium. The competition will be contested by champions APR, AS Kigali, Rayon Sports and Etincelles. The tournament will start with two knock-out matches, with APR taking on Etincelles at 3:30pm before holders Rayon Sports and AS Kigali face off at 6pm. In case of draws, teams will go straight to penalty shoot-outs. Speaking on behalf of Ferwafa during the launch of the third edition of the tournament on Monday, the federation’s head of medical commission, Dr Musa Hakizimana, urged Rwandans across the country to turn up in big numbers in bid to embrace Rwanda’s sovereign wealth fund. He said: “We have plans of expanding the tournament effective next year, from four to eight teams. This competition has impacted on the level of competition in local football.” Charles Mugabe, the Chief Investment Officer at AgDF, said that, “It’s going to be very exciting considering that all clubs have beefed their squads ahead of the new season.” He added, “The aim of AgDF is to raise more domestic resources to help accelerate economic development of Rwanda. The fund is ours and we should preserve and develop it,” The tournament, which is in its third year, has so far raised Rwf88m for the sovereign fund. In 2016, the tournament generated Rwf16m before Ferwafa family contributed a further Rwf34m to make it Rwf50m. Last year, Rwf38m was collected from the tournament. The idea to set up the Agaciro Development Fund first came up during the 2011 National Dialogue and it was launched in August 2012 to mobilise public savings towards achieving self-reliance and accelerating socio-economic development. So far, after six years, Rwf51b has been raised. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
