A record 52 people have submitted applications for the position of Rwanda national football team head coach job, Rwanda Football Association (FERWAFA), the local football governing body, has revealed to this paper.

Notably, no Rwandan coach applied for the Amavubi coaching role, which fell vacant after Northern Irishman Johnny McKinstry was sacked in August last year.

On the 52-man shortlist is Georges Leekens, who coached Belgium at the 1998 World Cup finals and 2012 Euros before leading Algeria to the just-concluded AFCON finals in Gabon. The Belgian resigned following Algeria’s poor showing at the finals that concluded early this month.

Others on the list include former Germany U-23 and Cameroon head coach Winfried Schafer as well as former Nigeria striker and head coach Samson Siasia. 

Other notable names on the list include former Rayon Sports coach Didier Gomes da Rosa, who guided the blues to their seventh league title in 2013, and former Police FC head coach Goran Kopunovic.

 "Our target is to get a new coach at the start of next month (March). On Friday we will make the shortlist of the coaches who have what we have asked for and after that we will start negotiations with the person we will have chosen,” FERWAFA president Vincent Nzamwita told Times Sport on Wednesday.

Nzamwita further revealed that, "We have received over 50 applications and will soon make a shortlist so we can choose the best candidate. We need a coach who will raise the level of playing for the national team and the youth teams.”

"We will continue take our time to look for the best possible coach, someone competent enough and with the right experience and qualifications, but who is not very expensive,” he said.

FERWAFA’s executive committee will sit and decide on the modalities to pick the most suitable coach for Amavubi, he said.

Nzamwita said the next Amavubi head coach will be named in time to select the team that will play against Tanzania in the second round of the CHAN 2018 Kenya qualifiers in July.

The first leg is scheduled between July 14-16 in Dar-es-Salaam before the return leg in Kigali the following weekend.

The continental tournament, reserved for players who feature in their respective domestic leagues across Africa, will be staged in Kenya from January 11 to February 2, 2018.

In addition to the CHAN 2018 qualifiers, Rwanda also has the AFCON 2019 Cameroon qualifiers to contend with Amavubi having been drawn in Group H alongside Ivory Coast, Guinea and Central Africa Republic.

Full list of applicants:

Adyam Kuzyavez (Russia), Antoine Hey (Germany), Alberto Nieto Sandoval Loro (Spain), Antonio Flores (Spain), Bernard Simondi (France), Daniel Breard (France), Danilo Doncic (Bulgaria), Denis Doavec (France), Denis Lavagne (France), Didier Gomes da Rosa (France), Engin Firat (German/Turkey), Ermin Siljak (Slovenia), Fran Castano (Spain), Jasminko Velic (Portugal/Serbia), Joao Parreira (Portugal), Jose Rui Lopes Anguas (Portugal), Kevin Reeves (England), Luis Norton de Matos (Portugal), and Mihail Stoichita (Romania).

Others are; Seslija Milomir (Bosnia), Manuel Madurerira (Portugal), Marc Lelievre (Belgium), Mircenia Rednic (Belgium/Romania), Mourad Ouardi (Algeria), Nasser Sandjak (France), Nikola Kavazovic (Serbia), Paul Put (Belgium), Pea Fulvio (Italy), Peter Butler (England), Pierre-Andre Schurmann (Switzerland), and Ricardo Nuno Perreira (Portugal).

Others are: Salomon Yannick (France), Samson David Unuanel (Nigeria), Scott Donnelly (U.S/England), Sebastian Desabre (France), Tom Saintfiet (Belgium), Vaz Pinto (Portugal), Winfried Schafer (Germany), Denis Goavec (France), Dimitrir Vasev (Bugaria), Ermin Siljak (Slovenia), Fabio Lopez (Italy), Goran Kopunovic (Serbia), Maor Rozen (Uruguay), Marinko Koljanin (Croatia), Meziane Ighil (Algeria), Peters Guy (Belgium), Raoul Savoy (Swiss/Spain), Rodolfo Zapata Antonia (U.S), Samson Siasia (Nigeria), Dragomir Okuka (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Georges Leekens (Belgium).