Etincelles to replace La Jeunesse in league

Ferwafa executive committee has given green light to La Jeunesse’s request to pull out of the 2013/14 National Football League due to financial constraints and confirmed their place will be taken by Etincelles.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Ferwafa executive committee has given green light to La Jeunesse’s request to pull out of the 2013/14 National Football League due to financial constraints and confirmed their place will be taken by Etincelles.

According to sources, the federation’s executive committee which sat on Tuesday, agreed to La Jeunesse’s request and in the same spirit stipulated that if the club wants to return to the top flight division, they will have to go through the second division.

Consequently, the executive committee paved way for Etincelles to return to the 14-team league for next season which gets underway on September 21.

Rubavu-based Etincelles was relegated after finishing 13th last season along with Isonga FC but will now benefit from La Jeunesse’s troubles to make a swift return to the top league without kicking a ball in the second tier division.

The Nyamirambo-based youthful side dropped out of the league due to lack of enough funds to keep them in business after their main sponsor Tinco, a South African mining company opted to withdraw their monthly Rwf6 million sponsorship.

"We will not take part in next season’s league because our sponsor will not continue to support the team and since we have been caught an aware, it’s hard for us to compete without sustainable financial base,” Club chairman, John Ntwali said recently.

La Jeunesse has followed other teams like KIST, Electrogaz and Atraco FC who have pulled out of the top flight division in the past after their financiers pulled the plug off the cash flow.