Ntagwabirwa turns focus to Peace Cup

RAYON Sports coach Jean Marie Ntagwabirwa has challenged his side to win the Peace Cup if they are to finish the season with some silverware.The blues’ title hopes were smashed on Saturday after a 1-0 loss to arch rivals Kiyovu which left them seven points adrift of league leaders Police with two games to go. The coach blames club administration for the poor league run.Rayon has now gone eight years without winning the league despite having the biggest fan base in the country and Ntagwabirwa blames the club administration’s failure to pay players’ salaries on time as the major reason for the team’s mediocre performances.“During the second round of the league campaign, I had very few players during many training sessions. Most of the first team players refused to train because of salary arrears.So during league matches, I didn’t have a full squad and the ones I had were very demoralized thus throwing away unnecessary points,” the former APR, Atraco and Kiyovu coach said. Peace cup targetRayon Sport’s remaining chance of some silverware this season is in the Peace Cup but they face a tricky tie against old nemesis Kiyovu, who last weekend ended their league title hopes, but Ntagwabirwa is adamant that his team will step up to the challenge.The 41-year old, who is also assistant coach to Amavubi coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic is arguably one of the most successful coaches after winning the league with APR and Atraco.Is there an End to Rayon’s financial woes? Rayon Sports hardly finishes a season without any financial scandals and the club’s take over by local media mogul Albert Rudatsimburwa did not help matters.A senior official at the club, who did not want to be named, told Times Sport yesterday that the club’s negotiations with Tigo as a potential sponsor are not making a progress.“Tigo wants to give us two million a month which is little for such a club. We spend around Rwf 14-16m on salaries, so there is a bit of stalement. We are continuing our target of securing sponsorship for next season from different corporate companies.”Rayon is believed to have millions of fans across the country but it continues to be a mystery why the club can’t use its huge fan base as bargaining chip to get sponsorship.