Rwanda will not participate in the 55th Commonwealth Youth Games slated for September 5-12 in Samoa after failing to secure visas on time.

The development was confirmed to Saturday Sport yesterday by the Rwanda National Olympic Committee (RNOC) programme manager, Serge Mwambali.

He revealed that, "The trip to Samoa has been cancelled after obtaining visas very late. The alternative option would cost us an extra Rwf10 million so we decided not to go for the competition.”

Rwanda was supposed to be represented in two disciplines—tennis and athletics. The two teams had been intensively preparing for the week-long world class youth competitions at Amahoro stadium.

The athletics team included 14-year old Beatha Nishimwe and Honoline Iribagiza, 15 while the tennis team was made up of 16-year-old Ernest Habiyambere and Fabrice Tuyishime, 15.