{"id":2091,"date":"2026-07-03T08:59:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T08:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=2091"},"modified":"2026-07-03T08:59:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T08:59:42","slug":"ferwafa-introduces-anti-doping-tests-raises-fees-ahead-of-2026-27-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/03\/ferwafa-introduces-anti-doping-tests-raises-fees-ahead-of-2026-27-season\/sports\/","title":{"rendered":"FERWAFA introduces anti-doping tests, raises fees ahead of 2026\/27 season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Rwanda Football Federation (FERWAFA) has approved a series of reforms set to take effect in the 2026\/27 season, including unannounced anti-doping tests for players, increased competition registration fees, and a comprehensive branding overhaul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decisions were made during a FERWAFA Executive Committee meeting held Wednesday, July 1, 2026, as the governing body moves to strengthen competition oversight and modernize its football structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the new anti-doping policy, players will undergo random, unannounced health checks aimed at detecting the use of banned substances and performance-enhancing drugs. FERWAFA said the measure is intended to improve competition integrity and safeguard player health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The federation said doping covers 11 violations, including the use or attempted use of prohibited substances, refusal to undergo testing, involvement in doping practices, and interference with testing procedures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FERWAFA also approved new registration fees for competitions covering the 2026\/27 and 2027\/28 seasons. Clubs in the BK Pro League will pay RWF 2 million to register.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Participation in the second division, the Women\u2019s Super League, and the Men\u2019s Peace Cup will cost RWF 500,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women\u2019s second-division teams and entrants in the Women\u2019s Peace Cup will pay RWF 200,000, while women\u2019s regional competitions will require a RWF 100,000 registration fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, FERWAFA announced plans to overhaul its branding, including redesigning its logo, competition trophies, and national team kits across all categories. The federation said the redesign will be selected through a competition involving designers and creative professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2026\/27 Rwanda Premier League season is scheduled to begin Sept. 4, 2026, and conclude May 30, 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Rwanda Olympic Committee study conducted in January 2024 found that 97.1% of respondents were aware of doping, though only 15.9% said they had strong confidence in their knowledge of the issue. Most respondents said they received information through the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FERWAFA said the reforms are aimed at raising competition standards, strengthening player welfare, and improving the image of football in Rwanda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Rwanda Football Federation (FERWAFA) has approved a series of reforms set to take effect in the 2026\/27 season, including unannounced anti-doping tests for players, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2092,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,38,51,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current_affairs","category-facts_on_rwanda","category-health","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2091"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2094,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2091\/revisions\/2094"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}