Editor,Reference is made to Bonnie Mugabe’s article, “Only investment in youth structures will change Rwanda’s football fortunes” (The New Times, September 23).There are two things that I think can be done. First, let’s have lower divisions – like third (national) and fourth (provincial) divisions – after the second division. Those specific divisions will help smaller teams with low or no financial support to exist without spending big cash travelling all around the country.The second thing is financial control like in the Bundesliga. As a Kiyovu Sports fan, seeing my team losing the league last year due to financial problems was heartbreaking. In Germany, it’s hard to find a professional club as indebted as Spanish clubs like Atletico Madrid and Valencia.It is carried through the license, exclusively authorised by Deutscher Fussball Liga (DFL), allowing clubs to operate in one of the first two levels of national football. To receive this precious document, clubs must meet several criteria, including the obligation to be solvent.The financial statements of each professional club and their long-term plan are carefully studied each year by the federation. In case of failure to follow these rules, the DFL reserves the right to sanction by a deduction of points or relegation to a lower level – and sometimes to fine the club.This was the case of Dynamo Dresden, which was relegated from the first to the second division at the end of the 1994/95 season, and was eventually demoted two ranks to division 4. The objective of this system is simple: create financial discipline in order to ensure a sustainable development of clubs in the long-term.Jean, Brussels, Belgium
