The Minister for Sports and Culture, Julienne Uwacu, has apologised for the technical error that forced the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier between Rwanda and Guinea to be played without the singing of the national anthems of both countries. Rwanda was hosting Guinea at Kigali Stadium, which ended in a 1-all draw Forward Jacques Tuyisenge scored the equaliser with 13 minutes to time, cancelling out Jose Martinez Kante’s opener in the 32nd minute to hand Amavubi their first point in four games, having lost the first three games. However, the scandal remained the main highlight of the game. After a long wait for national anthems to be played in vain, Seychelles-born match official Bernard Camille decided to start the game before many social media users took to Twitter to complain about the level of disorganisation. Speaking toTimes Sport on Wednesday, Minister Uwacu conceded that the failure to play the national anthems was very ‘disappointing’ and the ministry had apologised to the Guinea and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) delegations for the incident. “We do not believe the technical error was intentional at all, it just so happened and we have apologised to Guinea and CAF for the disappointing incident. We have to be prepared with backup options in case such incidents happen in the future,” she said. After four match rounds, Amavubi are at the bottom with one point while Syli Nationale of Guinea top the table with 10 points. Ivory Coast and Central African Republic (CAR) are in second and third positions, with 7 and 4 points, respectively. Rwanda has not been to any AFCON finals tournament since the 2006. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
