Since 2006, Rwanda through the local football governing body, Ferwafa, started putting great focus on youth development by pushing for the establishment of youth football academies. One such academy was the “Amavubi Academy of Excellence” which was constructed under the support of Fifa president Sepp Blatter and inaugurated in January, 2008. Fifa contributed $450,000 to the $700,000 football complex in Remera which houses the Ferwafa headquarters. Ferwafa contributed the other ($250,000). Fifa, under its Technical Director Jean Michel Benezet, further injected $400, 000 into the Amavubi Academy of Excellence to help in running the activities of the academy to enable a successful future of local players at the highest level since it was a pilot project. The sponsorship ran until 2011. The establishment of the Amavubi Academy was supposed to be the turning point for Rwandan football as far as developing talented youngsters and prepare them for a bright future is concerned. The mission of this ambitious project included encouraging players to reach and maintain a high standard as well as promoting an improvement in the standard of Rwandan football in general. As is the case for every ambitious sporting project, the Amavubi academy of excellence was born of the dreams and determination of a few individuals. In late 2008, a wide selection was held across the country and 30 youngsters born in 1994 or exceptionally in 1995 were picked to join the “academy of excellence”. The Fifa grant covered the essential requirements for the academy which include accommodation, leisure facilities, training infrastructures, scouting and selection of talented players, transportation and sports equipment. The Amavubi “academy of excellence” which was the first of its nature in Africa later gave birth to a national team which made history by nurturing the majority of the country’s Under-17 team which surprised many by qualifying for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico. A year after the historical feat, the academy was no more as Ferwafa changed its management. A team of former FIFA/CAF referees led by Celestin Ntagungira and Michel Gasingwa was entrusted with the affairs of running football affairs in the country. Instead of working hard with the Ministry of Sports and Culture to ensure that the academy runs to provide more talented youngsters, they played a leading role in destroying everything that had been built and instead merged it with the Isonga FC. Failure to look at the future, the Ntagungira’s administration ignored even the simplest professional advice by Fifa’s Benezet that the academy auto-finances itself with its former players being offered to either local, African or European clubs such that the revenue collected can cater for the new batch of players. Even though Ferwafa and Minispoc are not ready to admit the mistake, I strongly believe the academy has to be revived in order to address the country’s declining football standards. However, its revival can never be accomplished once we still have a seemingly blinded-folded and incompetent administration that is unable to think about sourcing funding for the academy. This academy can be functional without relying solely on the government but it demands the right people to draft marketable proposals which can influence local companies. The objective of the Amavubi academy project is (or was) to provide infrastructure for the training of talented youth players and it should be maintained by engaging different stakeholders not throwing away the keys of the academy just because someone does not see its importance. Even though the current Ferwafa management is soon ending their first of office, their appointment was also questionable. Why should we elect two former assistant referees to lead our football, how qualified are they for such a high profile responsibility? Apart from eyeing positions in different Fifa or Caf commissions or even emptying the federation’s coffers for their stomach to mention but a few , there is nothing constructive the current administration can do or will avail to the nation in terms of developing grassroot structures for the sport to thrive to a level expected by all Rwandans. The most unfortunate thing in Rwanda is that these people are just picked by some powerful individuals based on their selfish interests to guide these institutions without even accessing their jurisdiction or holding a consensus to find if they are any suitable candidates. While the country is showing signs of resurgence thanks to domestic investment in facilities and programmes for youth players, the rot at the top of the administration of the football house needs to be resuscitated.
