Jimmy Mulisa appointed interim Amavubi coach

Former Rwanda international Jimmy Mulisa will take charge of the Amavubi, on a temporary basis, after head coach Johnny McKinstry was sacked this morning, it has emerged. Mulisa, 32, who was a key part of the Amavubi side that featured in the country’s first ever and only African Cup of Nations finals in Tunisia in 2004 and had professional stints in several European countries, has been an assistant to McKinstry. The Secretary General in Ministry of Sports and Culture Lt Col Patrice Rugambwa confirmed to The New Times earlier today that a meeting convened this morning had taken the decision to relieve the 30-year old Irishman of his duties. Rugambwa said Mulisa, a former forward with the national team and APR FC, will effectively take charge – in acting capacity – of the Amavubi, including the upcoming 2017 AfCON qualifier against Ghana scheduled for September 3, 2016 “We have taken the decision to terminate McKinstry’s contract because of poor performances. In his contract, he had committed to guide the country to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations and to the 2018 World Cup, both of which are now mathematically impossible to achieve, he didn’t deliver on what he promised and there’s no other option,” he added. Rugambwa said they were looking for another coach who will be working with Mulisa, along with current goalkeeper coach Ibrahim Mugisha. Mulisa also serves as the assistant technical director for the local football governing body, Ferwafa. Of Amavubi’s 25 games under McKinstry, they managed to win 11, drew two and lost a dozen games. He was earning $10,000 (Rwf7, 939,721.63) a month. Former Amavubi forward Jimmy Mulisa Under McKinstry, the Amavubi have been on a freefall in the FIFA/Coca-Cola rankings, coming in a lowly 121st in the latest ranking released earlier this month. He took over the Amavubi job when the country was ranked 68th globally, its highest ever ranking.McKinstry leaves after seeing Amavubi fail to qualify for the 2017 African Nations finals, having lost 2-3 to Mozambique in Kigali in their latest qualifier in June, in addition to earlier 1-0 defeats to Ghana and Mauritius. editorial@newtimes.co.rw