Rwandan athletes registered mixed results in 2022 but, to a larger extent, there was a significant improvement in the chase to catch up with our regional counterparts that have mastered the sport globally.Times Sport takes a look at some of the sports major highlights that shaped 2022 in Rwanda:History maker Mukansanga lives her refereeing dreamMukansanga is already in the history books of world football after she became the first African woman to officiate the men’s World Cup, something she revealed that she had never dreamed of.The 34-year-old was among three female referees selected for the first time for a men 's FIFA World Cup Alongside Japanese Yamashita Yoshimi and French Stephanie Frappart.Mukansanga made history at the tournament on November 22, the exact day she handled her first world cup game when defending champions France played Australia in Group D at Al Janoub Stadium in Al-Wakrah. She was at the time the fourth match official.She officiated her second World Cup game when defending champions France took on Tunisia in Group D on November 30.Besides Morocco’s semifinal heroics, the Rusizi-born referee is one of the football personalities that Africa and the entire world is celebrating.Rwanda qualifies for ICC Women’s World CupSeptember 12 will remain in history books for Rwanda as the country’s triumphant young women cricketers completed their fairy tale when they secured a final place at the inaugural ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup, by beating Tanzania by six wickets in Gaborone, Botswana.It is the biggest achievement in the country’s cricket history.The girl will now be looking to pull some magic again in South Africa during the World Cup and a coach of Leonard Nhamburo’s caliber has shown that everything can happen with her young but united team.Rwanda is pooled in Group B with Pakistan, Zimbabwe, as well as England and will lock horns with the latter in the second Group game on January 19, 2023. Nhamburo’s young guns will face England in their group opener.Monastir win the BAL 2022Tunisian giants US Monastir were crowned champions of the second season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) whose finals were played for the second time in Kigali.The Tunisians beat Angola’s Petro de Luanda 83-72 in the final to lift the trophy they previously lost to Zamalek of Egypt during the inaugural edition.Rwanda Energy Group (REG) let Rwandans down, as they suffered an early elimination from the continent’s elite club basketball showpiece after a surprise 63-66 quarter final defeat to Cameroon’s Forces Armées et Police (FAP).REG-powered club will be looking to bounce back from the 2022 BAL shock when the finals return to Kigali in 2023.Rwanda 's U-18 Handball qualify to the World Cup 2023The Rwandan under-18 men 's team made history when they secured a ticket to the forthcoming IHF Men 's Youth World Championship 2023 after pulling the strings and put up an impressive performance at the U-18 African Men 's Handball Championship 2022 held in Rwanda.It is so far the best achievement by any handball team in Rwanda.Gisagara win bronze in Africa Champions leagueIn May, Gisagara Volleyball Club finished their campaign at the 2022 men 's African Volleyball Club Championship in Tunis, Tunisia, on an impressive note after grabbing a third place finish with victory over Port Douala of Cameroon by three sets to one.The team won a bronze medal, the first ever won by a Rwandan club in the country’s volleyball history.The Southern Province-based club lost the opening set to the Cameroonians by 18-25 but quickly bounced back to win three consecutive sets on 25-23, 25-18 and 25-18 in third place.A third place finish was the least Fidèle Nyirimana’s team could do but the best a Rwandan club has ever achieved.Masita kit deal sagaIt’s a saga that has shaken and is still shaking Rwandan football...with its fate not decided for the time being.The saga escalated in July when members of local football governing body (Ferwafa) made it clear that they lost confidence in federation Secretary General Henry Muhire as they wanted him dismissed from his job over signing a contract with Dutch sportswear company Masita for sports kits of national football teams, apparently without the involvement of his bosses.In May, Muhire signed a contract with Masita to supply national team kits without informing the federation’s executive committee, which reportedly angered FA president Olivier Nizeyimana to the point that he considered resigning.Nizeyimana told federation members that his office was “surprised to hear that Muhire put pen to paper on Masita’s contract without the federation’s consent” in what some members of federation described as ‘abuse of power.’Muhire was at the time suspended but he returned to office two weeks later. It is reported that the former sports journalist and his boss Nizeyimana don’t see eye-to-eye with the latter accusing Muhire of putting the federation in a case that could cost them a staggering Rwf2billion in case they decide against using Masita kits.Arrest of Olympic officialsIn October, Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) confirmed the arrest of two officials of the Rwanda National Olympic and Sports Committee (RNOSC) over allegations related to abuse of office.The officials in question were Jean-Jacques Mugisha, the Head of Rwanda 's mission to the Commonwealth Games, and Jean de Dieu Mukundiyukuri, the Executive Director at RNOSC who were both suspected of two counts of forgery and making a decision based on favoritism, friendship, or nepotism.The two were reported to have obtained travel documents for seven people who were not meant to be part of the delegation that traveled to Birmingham for the Commonwealth games in July.Their case file was taken to the prosecution that they pleaded not guilty.It is understood that prior to their arrest, the executive committee slapped them with a one-month suspension dating from September 29 to October 29, after which it considered firing them permanently.However, the Olympic Committee boss did not want them fired and that suspension was enough for them.Theogene Uwayo lost the battle in the saga the time he sided with staff regardless of their mistakes and requested the committee to call them back to office. The decision did not go well with the rest of the executive committee who lost confidence in him.That forced him to resign from his position in a letter addressed to the Olympic Committee (RNOSC) on November 4.Road Tennis comes to RwandaIn November, Rwanda introduced the sport of road tennis on the streets of Kigali, following an agreement reached with Barbados.The signing ceremony was presided over by the Minister of Sports, Aurore Munyangaju, and Barbados’ Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Kerrie Symmonds, in Kigali.Road Tennis is new in Rwanda but through the partnership between the two countries, there are signs that the sport could take shape any time soon.Four locations namely Kimisagara, Nyamirambo and Kabuga, are already mapped out to host the games and there is an ongoing study regarding efforts to scale up the sport to other parts of the country
