Englishman Lee Johnson has stepped down from his position as the Rwanda Football Federation (Ferwafa) technical director and under-17 national team head coach.
The 34-year-old, who took over last July, handed in his resignation on Tuesday afternoon. It reads in part: “I would like to officially tender my resignation as the national technical director of the Rwandan Football Federation.
“Over the past few weeks I have been approached by a number of professional organisations who have been interested in acquiring my services.
“I have, therefore, decided to accept an offer from the All India Football Federation to become the new Assistant National Team Coach and head coach for the under-19 national team.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the help and support you have given me during my time working at the federation. The buzz I felt when I represented this great country will live long in my memory and will go down as one of the proudest moments of my life.”
“The decision I have made is with a dedicated eye on my personal aims as a coach and is something that I felt was right for me in order to develop my career. It goes without saying that I wish the federation every success for the future,” Johnson said in his resignation letter.
Johnson was responsible for development, management and implementation of the federation’s national programmes at the grassroot level, coach education, the growth of girls’ and women’s football across the country as well as elite player development.
Formerly a youth academy coach with Chelsea and Crystal Palace, Johnson introduced the under-13, under-15 and under-17 youth leagues in February and developed strong partnerships with the English FA as well as the German Football Federation (DFB) to introduce grassroots and leadership programs to promote standards and increase the level of coaching across the country.
In his first assignment, Lee prepared the under-17 side against the Uganda Kobs in the 2015 Caf Africa under-17 championship qualifiers return leg but lost 3-2 in Rubavu and were eventually eliminated following a 7-2 aggregate.
In January, he replaced Constantine who had resigned as Amavubi coach and was in charge of the Rwanda under-23 1-1 draw friendly match against Tanzania U-23 in Mwanza.
