Grace Nyinawumuntu, a renowned female football coach in Rwanda, hit the headlines four years ago when she was accused of allegedly sexually harassing her players.

At the time, in January 2017, she was the head coach of the women’s national football team, and the allegations immediately led to her dismissal; both at club level – AS Kigali women’s football club – and the national team.

The retired central defender says this brought her career to a downfall and, also affected her psychologically and emotionally.

"The [false] allegations surfaced when I was pregnant in my first trimester, it was hard to comprehend all that was happening at the moment. It’s just a miracle that I didn’t end up having a miscarriage,” Nyinawumuntu told Weekend Sport in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.

A year later, she won the case and the court ordered AS Kigali to pay her USD47,000 (about Rwf40 million in April 2018) for the damages.

Despite the ordeal she had to endure, Nyinawumuntu says she is thankful she was able to get over it and managed to focus on what is best for her.

"With time, I stopped dwelling on negativity and started focusing on who I am as a person who is innovative, daring, and believes in doing things that I want to achieve,” she recalls.

Focusing on her future

Since early 2017 when the allegations tarnished her reputation, Nyinawumuntu says she put a hold on coaching and managing teams.

The country’s first international female referee currently works with AKWOS as an administrator and finance manager, which she says came with a better pay than she has ever gotten throughout her career in football.

AKWOS is a nonprofit organisation that seeks to empower women in East Africa through sports and education.

"I would say this was a great motivation for me to bounce back and move ahead with my life. I was encouraged to rise up and find the new path that God had created for me to survive.”

On top of this, she also enrolled at Mount Kenya University for her master’s degree in project management, which she will be finishing in two months’ time.

Currently, Nyinawumuntu is one of the seven candidates selected for the coaching position at the soon to be launched PSG Academy in Rwanda.

Starting out her career and expectations

As a child, Nyinawumuntu loved playing football, an aspiration she says her parents didn’t welcome easily. She recalls being beaten occasionally because of that.

Besides, she says playing football as well came with societal stigma as many people believed the sport was only mean for boys.

"I chose to ignore all and follow what I liked doing. I remember in school playing with boys because by then, there was no football team for girls,” she says.

When she had an opportunity to join the women’s team in 2002, she says this is where her playing career officially started. She featured for AS Kigali and the national team for a few years before venturing into coaching.

As a coach, Nyinawumuntu guided AS Kigali to a record eight league titles between 2010 and 2017, and was also the women national football team’s head coach from 2014 to 2017.

Meantime, she is eyeing to pursue master’s degree in football management, which she says will enrich her credentials as a football manager. She has also applied for a professional internship in five major clubs in the country to earn the experience of managing men’s football.

The clubs include APR, Rayon sports, AS Kigali (men), SC Kiyovu, and Police FC.

"This time my ambition is to coach in men’s football. With my experience, I want to write a book about challenges women face in development, particularly in sports.”

This, she says, will enable her to become a researcher or consultant in women’s development issues.

"I want to be able to contribute to football development in Rwanda.”