In a space of two weeks, three top officials from the national football association, Fédération Rwandaise de Football Association (FERWAFA), have resigned, namely the president, the Chief Executive, and the head coach of the senior Amavubi Stars side.

This comes at a time when local football is in total doldrums. July’s Fifa rankings placed Rwanda at 138, one of the worst positions the country has held since the system was introduced back in December, 1992.

In all fairness, the officials did the right thing. There is no point staying in charge when you are clearly underperforming.

Rwanda may have hosted the Africa U-20 Youth Championship in 2009, and the 2011 Africa U-17 youth Championship after which it qualified for the U-17 Fifa World Cup under their leadership, but that was about it.

In the same period, Amavubi failed to qualify for four Nations Cup finals in 2006 (Egypt), 2008 (Ghana), 2010 (Angola) and 2012 (Equatorial Guinea/Gabon) and two World Cups.

Now that qualification for the 2012 Nations Cup is out of the question, it’s time to focus on the 2014 Nations Cup as well as the 2014 FIFA World Cup which will be staged in Brazil.

Many will argue that it’s a tall order but with fresh blood in –as expected – a proven coach onboard, qualification for the 2016 Africa Nations Cup should be a realistic target for the nation.

But this will require patience and support from fans and other stakeholders.

Ends