African superstition was on full display in a Rwandan League game which has, incredulously, led to the banning of witchcraft by authorities in the league!
Mukura Victory Sports and Rayon Sport were playing a game earlier this month when the incident, which can be seen in the attached video, occurred.
Rayon were down by a goal when their striker, Moussa Camara, ran towards the Mukura goal and placed an object just near it. The Mukura players, apparently aware of how powerful the ‘juju’ was, chased Camara and attempted to haul him down but he escaped, before he was booked for his action.
But the story gets better – just a few minutes later, he headed home a cross to draw his side level. His mallam was right, it seems.
In an effort to crack down on such ‘juju’ antics, officials in the Rwanda Football Federation (FERWAFA) have banned ‘witchcraft’. Any player or coach found using witchcraft faces a fine, and if a team is found guilty, they face a three-point deduction and a fine of 500,000 Rwandan Francs, or about $600.
“Since there is no scientific way to prove the use of witchcraft, these measures will based upon reports from match officials and anything that is deemed to incite witchcraft will be put under consideration.”” FERWAFA vice president Vedaste Kayiranga said, according to Rwanda’s New Times.
Football is supposed to have rules against such things as having foreign objects on the field – they just need to enforce those, not absurdly declare they are banning witchcraft!