Just two months away from kickoff, the inaugural Veterans’ Club World Championship (VCWC), which was scheduled for September 1-10 in Kigali, has been cancelled.
This comes after the government of Rwanda, effective Wednesday, June 26, mutually ended its three-year partnership with EasyGroup which has been organizing the 10-day veterans football competition.
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"Rwanda Development Board (RDB), on behalf of the government of Rwanda, announces the termination of its partnership with EasyGroup, organizers of the Veterans Clubs World Championship (VCWC) 2024. This decision comes after careful consideration and mutual agreement between two the two parties,” the statement partly reads.
"As a result, the Veterans Clubs World Cup scheduled for Kigali in September 2024 has been cancelled.”
Additionally, the statement further reads, the Visit Rwanda brand will no longer be associated with any marketing activities or branding by the event organizers moving forward.
Rwanda’s withdrawal from the partnership comes a year after RDB, through the Visit Rwanda campaign, in March 2023 signed a three-year partnership deal with the VCWC, where Rwanda would host three consecutive editions of the football tournament starting with 2024.
The VCWC is a special football and business-oriented tournament which sought to bring over 150 retired football legends across the globe to Kigali for a special tournament which is also laced with supposed business opportunities.
The likes of Brazilian World Cup and Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldinho, Michael Owen, George Weah and Rwanda’s very own Jimmy Gatete were among football legends who had confirmed their participation.
Meanwhile, EasyGroup, the VCWC organisers, confirmed that they were informed by RDB about the termination of the partnership on June 18.
The VCWC 2024 may be shifted elsewhere after organisers said that the end of partnership with Rwanda "does not signify in any way signify the cancellation of the tournament.”
"EasyGroup will provide updates on the situation and any measures taken regarding the new context of the VCWC organization,” reads a statement jointly signed by EasyGroup and VCWC founder and president Fred Siewe issued on Wednesday, June 26.