AS Kigali to resume training ahead of Caf Confederation Cup
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
AS Kigali players warm-up before a past Confederation cup tie. The City of Kigal side start training on Wednesday, December 16 ahead of their Confederation cup tie against Ugandau2019s KCCA. / Photo: Courtesy.

AS Kigali is set to start training on Wednesday, December 16 as they prepare the CAF Confederation Cup tie against Ugandan side KCCA next week.

By press time, the club team Manager, Innocent Bayingana said they were still waiting for an authorisation letter from the Ministry of Sports which he seemed to be optimistic of getting.

"We are waiting for approval from the Sports Ministry but we are confident that we will get it. So the team will start training tomorrow as a group. The players have been having individual training but we are still in residential camp,” Bayingana said

The team is staying at Baobab Hotel in Nyamirambo.

In the preliminary round, AS Kigali beat Botswana’s Orapa United 1-0 in the return match at the Kigali Stadium to secure a ticket in the next round.

AS Kigali is the only Rwandan club still involved in a continental competition after league champions APR were eliminated from the Caf champions league by Kenya’s Gor Mahia last week.

A cabinet meeting that was held on Monday, December 14 allows clubs and the national teams which are involved in continental competitions to hold training in adherence with Covid-19 preventive guidelines from the Ministry of Health.

The decision comes three days after the Sports Ministry suspended the league from December 12 due to COVID-19 infections found in some teams including Rayon Sports that had 14 positive cases and Rutsiro football club.

The Football Association of Rwanda (FERWAFA) will pay all the costs related to the testing of all players and coaches in the top flight league before returning to their families.

Meanwhile the men’s national senior football team, Amavubi will start preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations (CHAN 2020) which will be held in Cameroon from 16 January to 7 February 2021.

The tournament, which was scheduled to take place in April 2020, was postponed due to the Coronavirus epidemic.

Rwanda is in Group C along with Uganda, Morocco and Togo.