The New Times (Kigali) Government Supporting Daily

Rwanda/Egypt: FERWAFA Gives Egypt the Cold-Shoulder

Kigali — Rwanda Football Federation, Ferwafa has declined to change the dates for their World/Africa Nations' Cup Group C qualifier against Egypt set for June 10 in Cairo.

Egyptian Football Association (EFA) informed Rwanda of their intention to have the qualifier moved to June 12 but after consulting different parties involved in the preparation of the Amavubi team, Ferwafa has decided to give the cold-shoulder to the Egyptians meaning that the qualifier will be played on June 10 as earlier scheduled by the World football body, Fifa.

Ferwafa's Chief Executive Officer Jules Kalisa said on Tuesday that, "The Coach (Tucak Branko) wants the Egypt qualifier to be played on the scheduled dates. So we don't want to interfere with his preparations, targets and focus."

"Rwanda will play Zambia on June 6 in Lusaka and will then board a plane after to Cairo for the Egypt fixture four days later," Kalisa said, adding that this will help Coach Branko to spend more time with the professional players.

The Egyptian FA informed Fifa of the difficulty of facing Rwanda on June 10, following Algeria's alteration to the original date of their 2010 World Cup qualifiers meeting with Egypt.

The FA received a notification from the Algerian Football Federation a fortnight ago, setting June 7 as the new date of their qualifier, one day later than the pre-agreed date. This change means that African champions Egypt will have less than three days to prepare for the Rwanda tie.

Egypt, who play away to Algeria in a Northern African affair on June 7, will take part in this year's Fifa Confederations Cup.

The African champions will face Brazil, Italy and USA in Group B in South Africa, who will host the competition starting June 15th.


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