Rwanda Football Federation (Ferwafa) has started a campaign to clear all the debts that the football governing body has accrued in the past.

Ferwafa president Vincent Degaule Nzamwita recently revealed that, "When we took over office last year, we found out that Ferwafa had debts to a tune of Rwf291 million owed to different service providers. Our aim is to clear these debts before we leave office.”

The biggest chunk of the money is owed to Rwanda Revenue Authority in taxes and the rest is to hotels that have hosted visiting teams and individuals who have provided services to Ferwafa.

According to Nzamwita, Ferwafa has so far cleared Rwf155, 525, 912 and have to clear the remaining balance to a tune of Rwf135, 788, 864 by the time they leave office at the end of their four-year term.

Meanwhile, Ferwafa is set to commence the construction of a 4 star hotel that will house up to four teams at ago in a bid to curb the huge expenses spent on accommodation for the national teams and visiting sides.

The hotel will be funded by Fifa to a tune of $500,000 (Rwf343m) as part of the Fifa Goal Project development programme that was approved by the world football governing body.

It will be built right next to the Ferwafa headquarters in Remera, which was the first project supported by Fifa in 2001. Six years later, the Fifa Goal Bureau supported the installation of an artificial turf at the technical centre to help improve the facility used by several teams for training.

Fifa then spearheaded the establishment of a football academy in 2008 which later played a crucial role in Rwanda’s qualification for the 2011 Fifa U-17 World Cup in Mexico.

The Goal Project was also instrumental in the installation of an artificial turf at Muhanga stadium in 2011, an initiative that has enabled the facility to host domestic league and cup games.

The Fifa Goal Project is an initiative started by Fifa president Sepp Blatter in 1999 to help improve infrastructure in developing countries, mainly in Africa and Asia. To date, it has provided support to over 500 development projects, with $200 million invested.

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