Rwanda’s football governing body (FERWAFA) has confirmed that decision to deduct points from Espoir FC during the 2023/24 second tier league campaign was ‘final’ and can’t be appealed.

The Rusizi-based club on June 1 docked 50 points in the final stages of Ferwafa Second Division League regular season and was as a result relegated to the third division after it was discovered that the club fielded an unlicensed Congolese goalkeeper identified as Christian Watanga Milembe.

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Initially, Espoir FC were handed a five-match suspension for this infraction. However, after extensive investigation, the federation determined that Watanga had featured in more matches, leading to the club forfeiting every game he played in.

"The decision is final and non-appealable. I don’t know if they appealed, but that cannot change anything,” FERWAFA spokesperson Jules Karangwa told Times Sport on Tuesday, July 10.

"The rules were applied in making the decision and the case on that matter is closed,” he added.

FERWAFA’s decision was based on a May 20 ruling, which informed Espoir FC that "all the points for each game in which Watanga appeared are to be deducted as stipulated in the second paragraph of article 56 of the competitions law."

The letter indicated that, based on the referee's reports for the matches Espoir played during the regular season, "we found that the player appeared in 16 of your wins, two draws, and one loss."

"We are writing to inform you that you have been deducted 50 points,” the federation said in the letter.

Espoir had finished second in Group B with 57 points, but the 50-point deduction saw them drop to the bottom (13th) of the group table standings with seven points, trailing Impeesa FC, who finished 12th with 16 points.