It was impossible not to get a little excited when the Confederation of African Football (Caf) awarded Rwanda the rights to host the African U-20 Youth Championships next year. The excitement, for those who got a piece of it, was not just because it shows the confidence Caf has in the people of Rwanda, but because it came at a time when Rwandan football is showing marks of progressing. By that I mean, with the big names in African football miles ahead from the chasing pack when it comes to staging major tournaments, Rwanda is the road become one of the countries best equipped to gatecrash the so called ‘exclusive club’. To host the continent’s second biggest tournament involving national teams is probably Rwanda’s best shot at contributing to the advancement of the beautiful game on the continent. Qualifying for the Nations Cup four years ago remains our best achievement in the game so far, though. Last week I was wondering whether we could actually do a Congo Brazzaville, that’s to host the tournament for the first time and go on to defy the underdog tag and win it, and guess what, yes am still wondering. But as the wondering rages on, back and forth, centre, right and left, someone well placed in the corridors of power in local football and beyond said to me something I felt was more significant out of hosting the African Youth Championships than winning it. We’ve already learnt that the sports ministry and the football federation once approached Caf President Issa Hayatou in 2006 with a proposal to bid to host the 2010 African Nations Cup but were turned down. Instead, Kigali was awarded the rights to host the 2009 African Youth Championships for the start as a dress rehearsal event with Angola winning the bid to host the 2010 edition. So, what does that mean? From where I’m standing, it means we ought to make better use of this opportunity, stage a successful event next year with a common view of impressing Caf, who knows what might happen to CAN 2016 or 2018, because 2012 would be too soon for us. Organizing a successful football tournament of this status has never been easy, no matter who the hosts are, and never will it be, but we have the chance to put some things straight in the face of the world beyond our boarders. Rwandans must use this championship to prove to the outside world that, we’ve actually overcame stiffer and probably more demanding challenges than organizing just a football tournament or international conferences. For a country that has managed to overhaul its face from the terror of the Tutsi Genocide that claimed over a millions lives just 14 years ago to a place where even Caf can trust us with such important events, only the sky could be the limit provided nothing goes really wrong between now and February 1, 2009 when the championships’ final game is played. And again, for a country that used to live in the shadows of its more powerful neighbors ten years ago, to find itself in the position Rwanda finds herself is incredible to say the least. Rwanda will become the first country in the East African region to host the African Youth Championships but more importantly, we could go a step further by becoming the first to organize the Nations Cup! How times can change. So, as I still wonder whether we could do a Congo Brazzaville, I realized that actually the most important aspect would be to organize a tournament that improves our record in the eyes of Caf and the outside world, which we could use to push our cause to organize bigger events. Bring on CAN 2018, why not? But first, let’s make the African Youth Championships the stepping stone, you know, first things first, and like I said last week, opportunities like this don’t came along very often. Contact: nku78@yahoo.com
