Kigali: Rwanda Football Federation (FERWAFA) and INEOS Europa AG have sealed a partnership to establish a multi-million football academy in Rwanda.
During the signing ceremony which was held at FERWAFA headquarters, the FERWAFA President Mr. Sekamana Jean Damascene said, ‘It’s our honour and pleasure to be in partnership with INEOS. We believe this is going to be a new foundation to football development in Rwanda. We thank INEOS for accepting to come and work with us,’
David Thompson, CEO INEOS Football SA, said, “INEOS is excited about getting into partnership with FERWAFA and we are interested and keen on this project. We are grateful and looking forward to having an academy in Rwanda,’
FERWAFA and MINISPOC are in advanced talks of identifying potential site where INEOS will build this academy in the upcoming months.
According to INEOS Chairman, Jim Ratcliffe’s vision for the Academy is to give young footballers from Rwanda the opportunity to become better footballers at a World class facility in their home country.
Once the academy has been built, FERWAFA will be responsible to help identify potential candidates and staff for selection to the academy and in the development, coaching and football related needs of the academy.
They will become a partner of the Team Vaud academy in Lausanne, with the intent that the most successful players at the age of 17-18 get the chance for further training in Lausanne, with a chance at professional football.
The philosophy of the football style and techniques/training methods will be collaboration between Team Vaud/FC Lausanne Sport (a Swiss club owned and managed by INEOS) and FERWAFA.
The academy will include 2-3 full size pitches (mix of synthetic and natural surfaces), some 5 a side pitches, a High-Performance Centre (to include gym, medical facilities, teaching rooms, study areas, offices, laundry, kitchen, dining facilities and a social area), accommodation for up to 96 students, and associated security and administration facilities.
FIFA and CAF have given their support to the INEOS project proposal and have suggested that this should be progressed in African countries via contacts with the relevant National Football Associations.
When INEOS first located its office in Rolle in 2010, it began to build close links to the community near to its offices in Canton Vaud and Lausanne. Part of this ambition was reflected in its sponsorship of Lausanne Hockey Club (LHC) which helped the club to reach its goal of moving from Series B to Series A. INEOS also encouraged investment in the academy structure of L4C (The youth teams for LHC) to give opportunity to younger players.
INEOS is finalizing plans to establish two African Football Academies, one in Botswana and the other in Namibia. (End)