Vincent Mashami’s future as the head coach of the national team, Amavubi, is up in the air with just three months before his contract expires in February next year. Mashami signed a one-year contract extension in February this year as a reward of guiding Rwanda to a quarterfinal finish in the 2020 African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Cameroon in January. However, the national team has experienced a poor run of results that saw them knocked out of both the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Amavubi’s performance under Mashami has raised criticism from football pundits and football supporters who have cast doubt over the tactician’s capabilities of building a good team to compete in major tournaments. Since signing a contract extension, Amavubi has played 10 games, including eight competitive games and two friendly games against Central African Republic. Mashami only managed one victory from eight competitive games, with six games ending in defeat while the other game ended in a draw. While the statistics don’t speak for him, Mashami’s future as the national team coach hangs by a thread with his employers showing no intention of holding talks about the future of the tactician whose contract expires in February next year. “There were no talks yet. He [Mashami] has his contract and we have to honor it,” said Ferwafa spokesperson, Jules Karangwa. Karangwas comments were echoed by the Ministry of Sports which approves the appointment of the head coach and has a hand in extending or terminating the coach’s contract. For Mashamis case, MINISPORTS has yet to hold talks with the tactician either. “No such talks [about Mashami’s future] has taken place,” said Guy Rurangayire, the Ministrys acting Director of Sports in an interview with Times Sports. “We have no comment on whichever points being raised about the national team coach,” he added. Rurangayire’s comments follow reports in the media that officials from Rwanda Football Federation and MINISPORTS held a meeting in Rubavu District, with the future of the national team coach on the top of the agenda. However, Rurangayire dismissed the reports, explaining that it was a standard planning session held between MINISPORTS and its partners in the sports sector to assess the implementation of the joint planned activities. Mashami has never shown any intention of stepping down from the national team hot seat despite delivering poor results for the national team, including Rwanda’s humiliating 3-0 home defeat against Mali at Kigali Stadium this month. While he still hopes he can turn the results around, if given a chance, his future remains in the hands of his employers: Ferwafa and MINISPORTS.
