By Lucky van Rukundo
Yverdon Sport FC winger Johan Marvin Kury says he’s looking forward to representing Rwanda football national team, his mother’s country.
The Switzerland-based 22-year-old winger has been torn for time on whether to play for Switzerland or Rwanda on the international stage as he was born to a Switzerland father and a Rwandan mother.
He’s yet to play for either Switzerland or Rwanda and it may be understandable for he has only one professional year under his belt.
What’s happening?
Many African countries including Morocco, Algeria, Senegal, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, and others are trapping their diaspora-born players and is working effectively for them.
Rwandan football fans want back the golden years of 2003 and 2004 that saw APR FC into the group stages of the CAF cup winners’ cup and the national team makes it to AFCON for the first and last time in history.
Since that era, Rwandan football hasn’t been reliable, there’s been no progress, and things have been motionless. The sector has been brought to its knees.
Tomorrow should be better as the Rwanda Football Federation has introduced the U20 league to help nurture local talents.
Rwanda league is not near to the standards of providing players who can carry the national team into major tournaments. This is why they have to go on board on serious scouting and recruit every abroad player who has even a drop of Rwandan blood in him.
Only four Europe-based players have featured in the 30-player squad, recently, called by the newly hired coach Torsten Frank Spittler for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe (on 15th November) and South Africa (on 21st November)
So as to get you know who Johan Marvin Kury is, we asked him about himself and his football journey. Below are the extracts:
Tell us about yourself
I’m Johan Marvin Kury, I am 22 years old. I was born in Switzerland. My dad is from Switzerland and my mom is from Rwanda, Kigali, Kimisagara. I have been a professional football player since one year ago, at Yverdon Sport FC in the Swiss Super League. I’m a winger who can also play as a right back and left back.
I started playing football when I was four years old, playing for my village. At the age of 11, I switched to the bigger club from my department, Neuchatel, called Neuchâtel Xamax. I stayed there for 9 years from their U13s to U21. After covid-19, I joined Yverdon Sport FC B, then into the senior team in the 2022-23 season as we won the division two championships, promoted to the first division.
Tell us about your Journey
As I’ve said, I started playing football when I was four years old, playing for my village. At the age of 11, I switched to the bigger club from my department, Neuchatel, called Neuchâtel Xamax. I stayed there for 9 years from their U13s to U21.
We failed to reach an agreement on a contract and I had a bad relationship with the coach so they kicked me out. I joined a neighborhood called FC La Chaux-de-Fonds (D4) so that I could finish school.
I played just five games for them before the Covid-16 outbreak stopped almost everything. We had to stop training. I still went on to train privately. I, unfortunately, suffered an ACL injury that kept me sidelined for almost the rest of the season.
I only managed to play the last four matches of the following season with my club. After that, I had a friend who told me that if I changed clubs by going with the second team of Yverdon Sport there would be a possibility that I could go with the first team if I was good. That’s what I did and one month after switching to Yverdon Sport B, I joined the professionals.
I had my first professional season last season and we won the division two championships in which I scored very important goals. Subsequently, I started the second season playing as a left back (while I naturally play as a winger) and everything was going well because as soon as I had the opportunity to play I seized it by being decisive (1 game/1assist).
Afterward, I had to be patient because it was only a matter of time before I could play because my post-competitor was my captain. Unfortunately, I injured my cruciate ligaments for the second time in a friendly match and I had to have surgery for the second time and I am currently undergoing rehabilitation.
He says he always follows the two take in both Switzerland and Rwanda so that if he gets the chance to play for one of them, he’ll take the chance.
A little bird has told us there is a discussion between Johan Marvin Kury and Rwandan-related authorities. On this step, the player responded ‘It is a decision that is not easy to make so I would like to be 100% sure of my choice so that I can give the best of myself on the field for the country and the team!’
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