Jose Maria Bakero, a Spanish former professional footballer who played for Real Sociedad and Barcelona has just concluded his 9-day visit to Rwanda this Monday, within the framework of long-term partnership with FERWAFA in football development related projects in his capacity as Barcelona scouting director.
During his trip the legendary Barcelona FC midfielder exchanged his experience with Rwanda’s men and women first division league team Head coaches as well as the Men’s Senior National Team technical staff and attended a national league football match at Huye International Stadium while he also visited different football academies in the country to get him introduced to the country’s football and its potential with projection to engage him in sealing long term football partnerships with his global network including Spanish Main football actors to accelerate the realization of Rwanda football development goals on all levels.
Following his visit to Rwanda under the invitation of the President of Rwanda Football Federation (FERWAFA), Bakero agreed to voluntarily advocate for the development of Rwandan football worldwide in a number of areas such as youth development, Coaches’ education, high- performance, refereeing, infrastructure development, professional scouting support, as well as cooperation partnerships between Rwandan youth training centers/academies and Spain to name but a few.
During his visit, Bakero discovered the history of Rwanda visiting the Kigali Genocide Memorial where he paid respects to the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi while Gorilla trekking as well as a safari in Akagera National Park were also organized for Bakero in partnership with Rwanda Development Board to experience trekking through the volcanoes to see Rwanda’s mountain gorillas with the aim of joining the country’s effort to promote Rwanda as a world class tourism destination by engaging such public figures and internationally influencing personalities. (End)