The ‘system’ that has problems on the day of the game, the amount of money that will be collected from stadiums and other things related to charging for games was the main focus of the meeting that brought together the management of the Rwanda Premier League and the leaders of the first division clubs in Rwanda. .
On Thursday, December 22, 2023, a meeting was held for the managers of the first division teams in Rwanda who are also members of the Rwanda Premier League. It was a meeting held on Thursday at Nobleza Hotel.
It was a meeting that focused on many topics but the one that took up most of the time was about the revenue from ticket sales.
The Rayon Sports team revealed that money was being stolen to enter the stadium and also wrote to the Football Association of Rwanda, FERWAFA to inform them.
When this issue was brought up, the President of Rayon Sports said that they, like Rayon, had a problem with the company responsible for charging money at the stadium, UrID Technologies, and said that they had asked for others to do this work, and they decided to repeat it.
UrID Technologies explained…’We have no ability to remove funds from the system’
Mugisha Sam, the head of the business department at UrID Technologies, which is also responsible for the payment of stadium tickets for matches, took the time to explain how they work and the problems they often face.
He said that the first problem they face is that most fans pay for tickets to enter the Stadium using USSD, but there are about 4 ways a fan can buy a ticket: Star method, using the Urid Tech Application, using their website ( website) or use the Whatsapp method.
Sam said that the fact that everyone is meeting in the same way is what causes the problem, the system is broken because they are entering at the same time and at the same time. He said that they are going to do a campaign to make people aware of the different methods that they will use.
Regarding the fact that the income from the Stadium would be stolen and has already reached the ‘System’, he said that it is impossible because when a person pays it goes through more than one company and therefore they have no authority to remove it.
He said, “When a person buys a ticket, he uses different methods. He can use MTN mobile Money, Airtel Money, Visa cards, or other methods. That is, the money does not come to us immediately, but when the game is over, we see the report that the money has come in. and the companies he went to, we wrote to them asking for them, and then he came to us, and we got to give them to the teams.”
He added, “Someone asked me if the system showed that the game generated 10 million FRW, that maybe it was reduced to 7 million FRW. I told him that according to the way he is going, we do not have the ability to remove it.”
How can the Stadium be seen to be full but the result is less money?
In response to this question, Sam Mugisha said that they did the study by visiting the Kigali Pele Stadium in Nyamirambo. He said that in the sale of tickets they should not exceed 7000 people. Of those, 65% are regular seats, 27% are sitting in the cover, 7% are sitting in VIP and 1% are sitting in VVIP.
He said that out of 100 FRW (100 FRW) to enter the stadium, 65 is from general seats (they also have limited tickets), 27 from covered seats, 7 from VIP and 1 from VVIP (they also have tickets). they have multiple tickets).
Sam said that according to these numbers, VIP and VVIP are the most suitable places for the team to get more income, but the biggest challenge they face is the free entry into that segment.
He said, “There are clubs that we have been showing to them, and we have shown them that the place where they bring in the most money is the place where they bring in free people, which greatly reduces the income at the Stadium. As Juvenal was a witness, there was a game where they paid 5,000 thousand in the rest of the game and a lot of money came out of it because there is a lot of money in that part. big.”
He said that people who are admitted for free go and create another problem, that you find someone who pays for a ticket of 50,000 FRW and then loses his seat because most of the seats are occupied by those who did not pay, something that he confirms is killing the business of the clubs but also affects them because sometimes you look at them he sees in full glory, and he thinks that it is with money and income, but it is not.