Rwanda to send U23 team for Francophone Games

Rwanda football federation has confirmed that the U20 national team will participate in the forthcoming Francophone Games, scheduled for September 6–15 in Nice, France.According to the federation president Celestin Ntagungira Abega, the plan is to use the competition to prepare a solid team for the 2016 Olympic Games and CHAN qualifiers.The U20 team is composed of players from Isonga and others who will be selected from other local clubs and outside the country.Rwanda, who will be making her debut in the football competition, is in Group D along with the hosts France, Congo Brazzaville and Canada.Group A is made up of Cote d’Ivoire, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of Congo and Niger, Group B has Gabon, Senegal, Haiti, and Lebanon; while Cameroon, Morocco, Burkina Faso and Chad will battle in Group C.Abega added, “We are following very closely all players, who are 20 years and below so as to be able to select the best possible team, not only for the Francophone Games but as the future national team.”The International Committee of the Games among Francophone (CIJF) countries, in collaboration with the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA), conducted the draw of tournament football games. The Nice games will bring together more than 3,000 participants from five continents competing in sporting and cultural events.Rwanda will also field competitors in other sports disciplines – such as athletics, swimming and boxing – and cultural events.In 2009, Dieudonne Disi was named best athlete and was awarded the Assemblée Parlementaire de la Francophonie medal by Lebanese First Lady Wafaa Sleiman after he won the 10,000 metres in 29 minutes and 38.68 seconds.Francophone Games, held every four years, and the participants are mostly were started in 1989 and the mostly countries are French speaking nations, it held every four years.

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Rwanda to send U23 team for Francophone Games