Football in Rwanda like in many African countries has been hampered by problems that range from management to technical.

Unlike some West and North African countries where football stars have helped their states to uplift standards of the game in those regions, many countries in East, Central and South of Africa are struggling to improve.

Football today has what it takes to overcome social and economic challenges in the society. Perhaps, this is why many African countries have stepped and strived to improve their soccer standards.

As regards our local football, Rwanda has clubs that have existed for over 40 years without making any impact on local, regional and international scene.

Clubs like Mukura, Kiyovu, and Enticelles are one of the oldest in the country. None of these has won the local league in 15 years or even make a break in the African competitions.

Only Mukura rose few times in the early 2000s during the time when Nando Vacalero was at the club but when the Belgian born left the country, Mukura performance and standards fell suddenly.

To a club that has many Royals from Butare (Southern Province) should not have fallen in this level but it showed how Nando was used as a skeleton at the club, also another habit of dependency.

Mukura, which has been in existence since 1960’s could not have lost stamina after one man (Nando) left. This also shows lack of sporting culture and ethics amongst its fans and the people running this proud football club.

During Nando’s stint at Mukura, a natural footballer in the likes of Mohamed Gasana ‘Tchite’ Meme, who now plays for Racing Santander in the Spain Primera Liga was natured through the club ranks. No such progress has been made again!

Back to the main issue, many local clubs have struggled for many years to live by football club standards in terms of infra-structures, management as well as their technical setups.

It is quite embarrassing to have a first division football club whose players do not have football boots and other requirements for match days.

Besides this, many local soccer clubs looks as if they were established without aim and this makes them only strive of presence on football ground.

Many soccer clubs in Rwandan do not have people, who take responsibilities with clear ambitions, and this has consequently affected their progress.

Infra-structure

Infra-structure set up in Rwanda is being improved at the national level, thanks to great efforts by the government to promote sports and football in particular. The worrying factor here is that many clubs exist without football grounds, and thus live without official address.

Many clubs do not have offices and running of their day to day duties of the club affairs is done in Bars, Restaurants, and other public places; a factor that expose their plans and weakness to the public or society prematurely.

In case of disagreements amongst club officials, the public gets aware much faster than the interim members and ends up creating chaos and confusion in club committee members.

Wrangles and intrigues are amongst the main factors that affect progress and development of some clubs here in this country.

However, the clubs’ infra-structure set up must match with the economy status of the country, willingness of the clubs and their structural set up.
 
Management

Many local clubs are managed by the executive committee members that in most cases nominated by club members!

Problem here in Rwanda is that many of these people, who make executive committees, tend to neglect club duties and attend to other duties that have personal or private interest to them.

This negligence has greatly affected the social and economic status of these clubs. Many clubs here lack representatives on both social and economic front, and without this, a club can never progress.

Most of the club’s representatives also tend not to isolate their private business and the club financial affairs, a factor that drags many local clubs in a continuous financial crisis year after another.

Club committee members tend to exist in numbers than potentials. To Solve all this, people or clubs need to look at football management at the business perspective rather than association without interests ‘asbl’.

This will improve on competitiveness and thus growth in football standards at local and international levels.

Technical set-up problems

Rwanda is a developing country and no tycoons is willing to invest his riches in local football yet the poor technical part of the game has affected the so called giant teams in the country.

We have clubs that spend millions of Rwanda Francs in a season but end up trophless at the end of the day!

The likes of Rayon Sport, champions Atraco and APR have dominated the local league but have struggled to transform that dominance on the continent.

These clubs have had money to buy of the best players around the region but their shunted success at the CAF organized games should create an intriguing question. Why do you buy stars who fire blanks or worse than you already possess.

Our clubs tend not to have good scouts and end up buying seemingly tired or aged players that have in most cases claimed to be younger than their actual age.

Money spent on buying and paying monthly wages for the so called star players could instead be spent on developing local young players.

People should understand that buying success in football is not all that an easy task and it always takes time. This is why Chelsea is not taken as the best football club in Europe despite of the fact that they have spent bmillions of pounds in the purchase of stars all around.

Clubs like Atraco, APR and Rayon Sport should get a nod of awareness before the current global financial crisis falls on them. These clubs should be advised to spend wisely otherwise!

Permanent success can only be achieved through gradual and fundamental mechanisms. Having a strong football club or even a strong national team is reflected right from the youth development ranks.      

Ends