The national U-16 football team will not take part in the "UEFA International Development tournament" in Cyprus due to travel documents (Visas) that could not be obtained on time, football governing body (Ferwafa) has confirmed.

The tournament is slated to kickoff on Wednesday May 9 and will run until May 15 in

The boys left their schools and spent a month in a training camp preparing for the tournament but were told at the last minute that they will not be able to travel to Cyprus after they were denied visas to travel to the European country.

"We regret to inform that the national U-16 boys team that was due to participate in "UEFA International Development tournament" in Cyprus from May 9 to 152022 will not be able to participate due to travel documents (Visas) that could not be obtained on time,” Ferwafa said in a Twitter statement.

"Our young players will be facilitated to get back to their respective schools and families today,” the federation added.

Failure to participate at the tournament is seen by many as a lost opportunity for young players who wanted a platform to showcase their footballing talents, something that angered football enthusiasts on social media and they blamed Ferwafa for making the boys waste time with no chance of participating at the tournament.

"These are kids, now they have missed school and a chance to play in such a tournament. What is this really? This is not an excuse you should pay for all damages caused for not going to school or playing football,” one Twitter user commented on Ferwafa's statement.

Rwanda's last appearance at a big under age category football tournament outside the African continent was in 2011 when the country participated in the U-17 world cup in Mexico.