Christophe Mukunzi, a long-serving captain of the national volleyball team, will not be part of the squad to represent Rwanda at the 2021 African Nations Championships next month after he was dropped from camp by newly appointed Brazilian head coach Paulo de Tarso.

Rwanda will host the African championships – for men and women – from September 5 to 20, at the iconic Kigali Arena. It is the first time the country will be organising the biggest volleyball event on the continent.

This publication understands that Mukunzi, 33, did not impress Tarso in training, and had been noticeably out of form. He has been the skipper of the national team since 2011.

The hard-hitting spiker was part of the group that finished fourth at the 2011 and 2015 All-Africa Games, in Mozambique and Congo-Brazzaville, respectively.

At club level, Mukunzi has won several accolades over the last 15 years including league titles with Gisagara and Rwanda Energy Group. He also had professional stints in Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Bulgaria.