It’s Tuesday, December 24th.

We at Imuzinews welcome you to this morning’s latest sports news and wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. The Amavubi national team arrived in Rwanda yesterday after a 3-2 defeat to South Sudan in the final qualifiers for CHAN2024.

The second leg will be played in Kigali on Saturday, the 28th. Rwanda needs to score at least one goal to qualify for CHAN, and coach J. Mulisa thanked his employers, promising to eliminate South Sudan in Kigali. Cameroonian striker Aziz Bassane, who was playing for Rayon Sports, returned to his home country without informing his team.

The player is seeking compensation from Rayon for the arrears owed to him. This player had talked to Rayon Sports about paying him $10k to sign him, but Rayon Sports gave him $2k, saying he would get the rest before the first leg. The Rwandan Premier League continued last night with the 14th match day, with Etincelles Gisenyi drawing 0-0 with Muhazi United, allowing Etincelles to move ahead of Kiyovu. Currently, the standings are as of the 14th day for some teams. 

STANDINGS; 

RAYON SPORTS 33 Pts (-1)

APR FC 25 Pts (-2)

MUHAZI United 12 Pts

Etincelles FC 11 Pts

KIYOVU SPORTS 11 Pts

Vision FC 9 Pts 

In the Peace Cup matches, the teams have decided how they will face each other in the round of 16 to determine who will face the other eight teams that did not qualify. Musanze vs. Muhisimbi AS Kigali vs. Etincelles Nyabihu Y.B. vs. City Boys UR FC vs. Nyanza F AS Muhanga vs. Star of the East, Intare vs. Ivoire Olympic United, Stars vs. Amagaju Kiyovu Sports will face the winner of the match between Rutsiro FC and Marine FC. In the first match, Rutsiro beat Marine 2-1. The exact dates for the matches will be decided after discussions between Rwanda Premier and Ferwafa.

 Orion BBC has acquired Cameroonian players Beleck Bell, Niyonkuru Pascal, known as Kaceka, and Icyishatse Hervé, all of whom played for REG BBC. The team is continuing to prepare for its third year in the First Division, which is scheduled to begin on January 24, 2025. 

 In Europe  

Fiorentina won 2-1 against Udinese last night, while Inter Milan beat Como 2-0 in the Italian Serie A. 

Standings; Atalanta 40 Pts

Napoli 38 Pts

Inter 37 (-1 game) 

The fear is all over Mikel Arteta after losing Bukayo Saka to injury in Arsenal’s 5-1 win over Crystal Palace.

The 23-year-old Englishman will be out for between four and six weeks. It is understood he could return in late January. Saka has already scored nine goals and provided 13 assists in 24 appearances this season. 

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has been tight-lipped about his future at the club, with his contract coming to an end. There are reports that he could leave the club. 

The Rúben Amorim and Marcus Rashford continues to be a hot topic, with the reason he hasn’t used them being because he saw them in training. The Englishman Marcus could be Amorim’s victim and leave Manchester this January.