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Photo Confederation of African Football

 

Rwanda coach Vincent Mashami named on Friday the final squad which will play Mali and Kenya in the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

Amavubi are set to travel to Agadir, Morocco on Sunday where they will play their first match against Mali on September 1st. Rwanda will then face Kenya in Kigali on September 5th.

Players like Bryan Clovis Ngwabije, Thierry Manzi, Abdul Rwatubyaye, Rafael York, Yannick Mukunzi, Djihad Bizimana and Emmanuel Imanishimwe will join the team in Morocco.

In the second round of the World Cup qualifiers, Rwanda are in Group E alongside Mali, Uganda and Kenya. Only the top team will progress to the third and final round.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Emery Mvuyekure (Tusker FC, Kenya), Eric Ndayishimiye, Clément Buhake Twizere (Strommen IF, Norway)

Defenders: Abdul Rwatubyaye (Shkupi FK, Macedonia), Salomon Nirisarike (Urartu FC, Armenia), Thiery Manzi (FC Dila Gori, Georgia), Omborenga Fitina(APR FC), Emmanuel Imanishimwe (FAR Rabat, Morocco), Emery Bayisenge, Denis Rukundo (AS Kigali), Eric Rutanga (Police FC), Bryan Clovis Ngwabije (SC Lyon, France).

Midfielders: Olivier Niyonzima, Kevin Muhire, Djihad Bizimana (KMSK Deinze, Belgium), Martin Fabrice Twizeyimana (Police FC), Yannick Mukunzi (Sandvikens IF, Sweden) and Haruna Niyonzima(AS Kigali).

Strikers: Muhadjiri Hakizimana (Police FC), Maddie Kagere (Simba SC, Tanzania), Jacques Tuyisenge (APR FC), Lague Byiringiro Lague(APR FC) and Onesme Twizerimana (Police FC). - Confederation of African Football

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan. Photo AFP/Getty Images

 

(CNN) - Tanzania's women football team have reacted following comments from Tanzania's female President Samia Suluhu Hassan describing female footballers as "flat-chested," and unattractive for marriage.

"To those athletes who are flat-chested, one can easily think that they are men," Hassan had said at a state event last Sunday to celebrate Tanzania's Under-23 men's team in the coastal city of Dar-es-Salaam.
""It is unfortunate that there is no hope of marriage life for some of these athletes, marriage is like a dream for them. If one of you was to pick one of the athletes and take her home as a wife to meet your parents, I am sure your mother would be surprised and confused as to whether it's a woman or a man," the president said.
Elsewhere in her speech, she emphasized the need to increase funding for the country's athletes, especially sportswomen and looking after them in retirement.
A video of Hassan's speech, which was delivered in Swahili, sparked outrage after it was widely shared on social media.
Hassan, 61, is the country's first female president who was sworn in after the death of predecessor John Magufuli in March this year.
Her reign was touted to usher in a more liberal stance from her predecessor's often repressive regime.
 
"The comment by president @SuluhuSamia on women footballers is a humiliation to all women," said forner MP Catherine Ruge, head of the women's arm of the opposition Chadema party.

Remarks 'misinterpreted'

The Presidency has not commented on the uproar following Hassan's remarks, however, senior players of Tanzania's national women's team 'Twiga Stars,' said at a press conference Thursday that she had been misinterpreted.
"There is a statement that the president had spoken about and people interpreted it in different ways," one player said.
"The president's statement gave us, the players, a lot of strength and encouragement, which made us to work very hard in sports. We have not seen anything with that statement."
Another player stated women footballers in the country are not bothered by their physical looks.
"We are beautiful, we are wonderful like other women and we also plan to be mothers someday. The question about appearance on our side is not something that really matters to us... The game we play needs a lot of strength. We will not stop doing exercising to build our muscles and strengths in order to reach our goals," the player, who was not named, said.

'Unfortunate remark'

Maria Sarungi Tsehai, an activist and founder of the #ChangeTanzania movement, described President Hassan's remarks as "body-shaming," and "completely unacceptable and unexpected from a woman leader."
"This kind of soundbite from the president of the country, especially one who's a woman is easily pounced upon by sexist and misogynistic people," Tsehai told CNN.
"It's a very unfortunate remark, considering the fact that she (Hassan) has been celebrated in Africa as the first female president of Tanzania — overcoming stereotypes and the perceptions people have that a woman cannot be the leader of a country."
"For her to turn that around and use stereotyping against these women who are also breaking stereotypes...especially in a male-dominated sport like football, is very unfortunate," she added. - Nimi Princewill, CNN

Hassan's comments were widely derided online. Photo AFP

 

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has come under fire for remarks about women footballers having “flat chests” and suggesting they would not be attractive candidates for marriage.

Hassan made the comments at a ceremony on Sunday to celebrate the victory of a national men’s team in a regional football championship, where ironically she also called for better funding for women’s sports.

“For those who have flat chests, you might think they are men and not women,” she said at Sunday’s event.

“And if you look at their faces you might wonder … because if you want to marry, you want someone who is attractive, a lady who has the qualities that you want.”

She added that for the women footballers “those qualities have disappeared”.

Hassan, who took office in March after the sudden death of her predecessor John Magafuli, is the only serving female head of state in Africa alongside Ethiopia’s President Sahle-Work Zewde, whose role is mainly ceremonial.

“Today they are making us proud as a nation when they bring trophies to the country but if you look at their lives in the future, when the legs are tired from playing, when they don’t have the health to play, what life will they be living?” she said.

“The life of marriage is like a dream to them. Because even if one of you here takes them home as your wife, your mother will ask if they are a woman or a fellow man.”

Hassan’s comments were widely derided online.

“The comment by president @SuluhuSamia on women footballers is a humiliation to all women,” said Catherine Ruge, the head of the women’s wing of the opposition Chadema party and former MP.

“All women deserve respect.”

Maria Sarungi, the founder of civil society group Change Tanzania, echoed that view.

“So all those cheering a female presidency…@SuluhuSamia is denigrating female football players for having ‘flat chests’ and thus lacking attractive features necessary to get married. You must be proud @AWLNetwork,” she tweeted, referring to the African Women Leaders Network. - AFP/Al Jazeera

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