For starters, Kigali City Council sank in 20 million Rwandan francs as instant money prize to be won by the top four soccer clubs in the last season’s national soccer league (100 years of Kigali city). When listening to different sports talk shows on FM stations I heard of heavyweight criticism hurled at Kigali City’s initiative of a 20 million Rwandan francs mini soccer tournament as part of the city’s centenary celebrations. The criticism has been directed at the selection of the four teams APR, Atraco, Rayon and Mukura. This argument was fuelled by the fact that Sports Club Kiyovu was left out. The critics cushioned their stand on the fact that Kiyovu is the Kigali’s oldest club that should have been part of the celebrations. At bottom of the matter, the criticism of the verification criteria in this context is quite unmerited and inequitable to be exact. It would be a narrow view if we only looked at Kigali’s celebrations as limited to the city other than the entire nation. I, therefore, support the selection of the four teams that was based on the national league ranking. The argument raised that SC Kiyovu should have been included in the four-team lucrative tournament despite finishing fifth last season. It would have been justifiable if SC Kiyovu was a Kigali City Council Fc. I don’t therefore see why a special treatment should have been rendered to SC Kiyovu in this cash-spinning tournament part of the centenary celebrations. If that was the case, all soccer clubs based in Kigali would claim to be part of this tournament. On the other side of the coin, Kigali City Council’s presence in football should not be occasional. If KCC’s involvement in the topflight football remains sporadic it means we shall have such a tournament after another 100 years. 20 million Rwandan francs is too little to stretch Dr. Aisa Kirabo’s social investment budget. I therefore suggest that this arrangement becomes an annual event under the name of ‘Mayor’s Cup’. In addition to this argument, this - strategy if taken- is cost effective other running a football club. So, it would be very prolific to contribute to soccer development and sports in general through this approach. Such modes of tournaments help the clubs since the money goes into the club coffers or players’ packets without taking a long journey through the federation’s hands. There should therefore be more of such tournaments organized to splash cash into football to improve footballers’ welfare as well as increasing competitiveness in our football. In terms of management, this instant sponsorship would be very easy to manage thus enabling our football development to gain pace. It would be scintillating if Ferwafa manages to secure a sponsorship for the national soccer league and also scratches its brains to package various money-prize tournaments and sell them to companies. Thinking out of box should be a tool to be employed! Ends
