Hoping for better 2012

As resignations mar what has been a positive 2011 Every year comes with its own trials, tribulations and successes. For Rwandan sports fans, 2011 will be remembered as the year when tribulations greatly matched successes or exceeded it. The words ‘resigning for personal reasons’ became synonymous with sports administrators. In just one year over 10 sports administrators that included former sports minister Joseph Habineza, Ferwafa president Jean Bosco Kazura, C.E.O Jules Kalisa, Amavubi coach Sellas Tetteh, Athletics federation boss Ntare Gerald and Basketball federation president Eric Kalisa all cited personal reasons for their resignations. But it was something that was not believed by majority of the public and which triggered a lot of debate on the ‘actual’ cause of resignations. The biggest advantage for the country and sports in general is that amid the chaos of resignations, International sporting bodies like IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations), FIBA Afrique (Federation of African Basketball Association) and FIFA (Federation of International Football Association) did not fault political interference in the resignations, which usually triggers sanctions, thus affecting the athletes. “The way in which many of the administrators resigned showed that there was more than the general public was told. They just didn’t resign for personal reasons,” says Claude Kwizera, an ardent basketball and football follower. “Although we may never find out what really happened, the people who resigned did so in a mature way. “We have seen what takes places in other countries when such leaders refuse to leave office, even when they should and instead start the blame game which ends up affecting Athletes,” the 29-year old who admits to have ambitions of heading the National Football Federation, says. However, in Sports, like any aspect of life, the bad is usually given prominence and publicity than the good. Local sports registered many successes that unfortunately were not given due recognition. Rwanda participated at the U-17 Fifa World Cup held in Mexico in June and July; something that most so called bigger nations on the continent which have more talent in the game have never taken part in, while cyclists Adrien Niyonshuti became the first Rwandan to qualify for London 2012 Olympic Games. The national sitting volleyball team secured a slot at the 2012 Paralympics games, the national cycling team posted their best results in the Tour of Rwanda, Amavubi defied all odds to finish second in the 2012 nations’ cup qualifiers and later went on an unbeaten run in the Cecafa senior challenge cup that was only halted by the Ugandan cranes. All those successes showed that although there were some changes in some sports administrations, it did not really affect the performances of athletes, largely due to strong commitment by the sports ministry and National Olympic committee. Sports Minister Protais Mitali has already shown that he will take a different route to that of his predecessor Joseph Habineza and has tasked sports federations to put more focus on acquiring legal statuses, youth development and attracting more corporate sponsorship to compliment funding from his ministry. Charles Haba, President of the Rwanda Cricket Association for the last decade cannot agree more. “I think there has been some sort of laxity with sports associations in not acquiring legal statuses, it helps the ministry to hold federations accountable and also justify their expenditure.” However, the idea of attracting corporate sponsorship is difficult because sponsors want mileage from their money, so in most cases they ‘invest’ in popular sports like football, cycling, volleyball and Basketball,” the former cricketer says. He adds that for now federations will only survive on funding from their respective international sporting bodies, ‘peanuts’ from sponsors and funding from the sports ministry. There is no doubt that next year is going to be a big year for local sports. The National Football team which has been rejuvenated by new coach Micho Sredojevic begins their 2013 African nations’ cup qualifiers against one of the biggest teams on the continent-Nigeria. It will be Micho’s biggest test and a win over the two time African champions will cement him in the folklore of Rwandan football. Since 2004, when the National team qualified for the nations’ cup, the benchmark for any Amavubi coach has always been to qualify the wasps for a second appearance in the most prestigious tournament of African football. David Bayingana, renowned local football pundit reckons that Micho is the right man to guide the team to another appearance at the tournament. “In just 40 days, Micho was in charge of nine matches where he emerged victorious in seven, drew one and lost one. It is the best start for a national team coach in 20 years,” the former voice of Africa radio sports editor says and adds that the Serbian’ meticulous nature will give the team their best shot at defeating the star studded side. London 2012 athletes will be targeting medals at the games. Unlike neighbors like Uganda and Kenya, no Rwandan has ever won a medal at the games and it is something Adrien Niyonshuti is relishing. “It will be my first time at such a sporting competition but that won’t faze my target of a podium finish. Getting a medal at the games will be my biggest achievement in my career and that is my incentive.” the South African based rider said over the phone sounding confident in his abilities. Apart from wanting to excel in sporting competitions next year, the sports ministry is set to launch the start of building a new state of the art 60.000 Seater stadium and also renovate Amahoro stadium that will be used to host the 2016 African football championship and also lobby for the African nations’ tournament of 2018. After completion of both projects, Sports Minister Protais Mitali thinks the country will have the best sporting infrastructure in the region which will contribute to the development of various disciplines. “Getting more and better sports facilities will not only aid our athletes but also help us in our long term target of hosting the biggest football show piece on the continent. The projects have been approved by cabinet and the work will commence next year,” Mitali said, adding that the ministry is still finalizing details on how much money and duration of the two projects will take. It is not just the sports ministry that is looking to build stadia. The Cricket and Basketball Federations are also laying ground to start building their respective sports complexes. The launch for a cricket ground was commissioned in London this month and on board includes U.K Prime Minister David Cameron. According to Oli Broom, the Managing Director of the Rwanda Cricket stadium foundation, USD 400.000 (Rwf 238m) is needed for the project that will be built in 3 years. The National Basketball federation also has an ambitious program of building a state of the art court that will aid it in lobbying to host the 2015 Fiba Afrique championship. With a new sports minister, federations having new leaders who are accountable for their actions, a new sports policy that is pro-athletes and an ambitious program of developing sports facilities in the country, sports lovers in the country have reason to be optimistic that the country’ sports will be better. From all of us here at Times Sport, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a sporting year 2012 as we look forward to Rwanda breaking the Olympic medal jinx at the London Games [editor]. Ostine.arinaitwe@newtimes.co.rw