• After sacking Tucak and Tomislav

FERWAFA seem like they have had enough of Croatian influence in local football. Barely three days after sacking Amavubi head coach Branko Tucak, the local football federation (Ferwafa) has axed Rwanda’s U-20 (Junior Wasps) coach Obradovic Tomislav.

Ferwafa’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jules Kalisa yesterday confirmed that the decision to relieve Tomislav of his duties is based on the fact that he has done very little with the team.

"He is out of contract and renewing it is not an option for us because the team’s performances have been unconvincing,” Kalisa explained to Times Sport.

But the news contradicts earlier reports from the Ministry of Sports and Culture (Minispoc) that Tomislav, who had also been tipped to manage Amavubi in the upcoming Orange Cecafa Challenge Cup in Kenya, was on the verge of signing a new two-year contract.

At the time, Ferwafa had convinced Minispoc that Tomislav was the man to make things happen with the Junior Wasps but Tucak’s failure to qualify Rwanda to next year’s Nations Cup in Angola ruined everything.

Tomislav took over as Junior Wasps head coach back in 2007 with a task of helping the team reach the semi-finals of the prestigious 2009 African Youth Championship which was held in Kigali.

Despite a promising start which involved a 2-1 win over Mali, the team was held to a goalless draw by Cameroon before losing out to eventual champions Ghana 1-2 to expunge any hopes of reaching the semi-finals.

In September, the team were at the center of another appalling display as they failed to progress past the preliminary stage of the 2009 Francophone Games which were held in Lebanon.

Though Tomislav’s replacement is yet to be known, it is clear that he will have his hands full with the 2010 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN), 2011 African Youth Championship qualifiers and 2012 London Games qualifiers all round the corner.

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