Foreign players must keep one identity-Ferwafa

Rwanda Football Federation (Ferwafa) will not license players with dual identity following a decision taken by the general assembly. Ferwafa president Vincent Nzamwita said in a news conference on Wednesday that players who are suspected to hold dual names but acquired national identity card through other channels will not be licensed to compete in the new season. “We have set up a commission to investigate the true identity of these players. The committee will undertake the task with the help of the National ID Council.” “Players must return back to their real identity and if they feel they want to be Rwandans, they will pass through normal channels to acquire citizenship,” added Nzamwita. The commission led by Albert Mwanafunzi has a week to report back to the executive committee with their investigative findings. Some of the players in question include; Sina Jerome, Peter Kagabo, Moussa Mutuyimana, all with Police FC and Rayon Sport’s Arafat Serugendo. Among other decisions taken in the general assembly, clubs which will not have secured legal status will forfeit points in the upcoming football league matches. Nzamwita said, “Let me make this clear, clubs without legal status will lose maximum points in the upcoming season. We have talked about this over a long time and clubs have refused to respond to the call of being accountable and we have no option but to take this decision,” “We don’t care if clubs have many fans or not but they need to be credible and accountable because this will help us in our normal operations,” added Nzamwita. Amagaju, APR FC, Marines, Mukura,Musanze, Police FC and Sunrise have not yet secured legal status and stand to lose maximum points should they fail to acquire even the provisional legal status from Rwanda Governance Board (RGB). Among other things agreed is the start of the U15 boys’ and girls’ league in January in a bid to boost the development of young players as well as giving them a competitive edge. Meanwhile, the U17 men and women national teams will not compete in next year’s continental championship but the federation will use the opportunity to prepare players who will help the nation to reach far in 2016 edition.

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Foreign players must keep one identity-Ferwafa