THE Confederation of African Football [Caf] handed over the CHAN hosting credentials to Rwanda on February 1 as the 2014 edition came to a climax at Cape Town stadium in South Africa. Ferwafa chairman Degaule Vincent Nzamwita received the Caf flag from President Issa Hayatou on Saturday. With less than two years to the 2016 edition, the Rwandan is doing everything possible to prepare a great tournament. The Minister of Sports and Culture Protais Mitali said over the weekend that preparations are on course and remained optimistic that everything will be done on time. “Preparations are on course. Right now we are looking for international investors to finance the construction of the new stadium and construction works are expected to start in March. We are also looking at renovating the other stadiums which will be used in the tournament such as Amahoro, Nyamirambo, Rubavu and probably Huye as well as training grounds,” he said. The Minister added, “We want to have a strong national team which should be able to perform well and even win the tournament on home soil. We don’t want to see our team getting out in the preliminary round.” Rwanda was endorsed to host the 2016 CHAN edition in January 2011 after the country staged two successful youth continental tournaments in a space of three years. They included the 2009 U-20 Africa youth championship as well as the U-17 championship the same year. Libya claimed the 2014 African Nations Championship (Chan) title after defeating Ghana on a penalty shootout in the final at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday evening. The North Africans’ first piece of continental silverware arrived courtesy of a 4-3 shootout win over the Black Stars after the match had ended goalless after extra time.
