THE Philippines Football Federation (PFF) has invited Rwanda to compete in the second edition of the 2013 Philippines Peace Cup. The three-day, four-nation international tournament will be staged October 11 to 15 in Bacolod City. The PFF general secretary Edwin Gastanes said this week, “We are finalizing negotiations with Rwanda and we hope everything will be settled to have Rwanda competing in the tournament.” Rwanda Football Federation chairman Celestin Ntagungira confirmed to Times Sport yesterday that they have received invitation to compete in the Azkals tournament. “We have received the invitation but we are yet to make any decision. We want to first meet the coaches and our sponsors (ministry of sports) to check whether we have the budget to compete in the tournament,” said Ntagungira. If plans go through, Rwanda, ranked 131st in the latest world rankings, will be the first team that will have a higher ranking than the Azkals in the competition. The Filipino Booters, currently ranked 141st, captured the inaugural Peace Cup crown-their first international title in almost a century. Gastanes said they have also invited Uganda to play in the tournament with Afghanistan and Burundi also being eyed as possible opponents.
