A memorandum of understanding was Thursday, May 5, signed in Kigali between local football governing body (Ferwafa) and the Federation Internationale de Football Veterans en Europe (FIFVE) from which both parties agreed on working together in organizing the tournament in Rwanda.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by presidents of both federations Olivier Mugabo,  of Fewafa, and Fred Siewe of FIFVE as well as Cameroon football legend Patrick Mboma among others. 

Confirming Rwanda as the hosts of the tournament was just a matter of time because, before an agreement to host the tournament was signed and sealed, FIFVE’s Siewe travelled to the country in August last year where he met Sports Minister Aurore Mimosa Munyangaju, Ferwafa officials and other local football stakeholders to discuss the possibility of bringing the tournament to the country and Africa for the very first time, an idea that was welcomed with both hands by the Rwandan authorities. 

Running under the motto ‘Football is our Passion’, the tournament will be the first veteran Clubs World Championship organised and hosted by an African country. All the past six editions were held in Europe and only European countries participated.

Siewe at the time revealed that bringing the World Cup for the veterans to Rwanda is part of FIFVE’s plans to expand the project to other parts of the globe, starting from Africa.

"Beyond that, we want to bring business partners. We will bring more than 6,000 people to Rwanda to follow the event, and also explore different investment opportunities in the country,” he told Times Sport in a past exclusive interview. 

"We want to attract people and we believe that the world will be coming to Rwanda even after this tournament,” he added. 

A total of 16 countries are expected to participate in the 7th Veterans’ Football World Cup and, like other tournaments, teams will go through qualifiers to secure tickets.

Rwanda, however, is already guaranteed for a ticket as the host nation.