After incurring an ankle injury in a championship return leg against La Jeunnese two years ago, the young player was left to shed tears alone. Anelka Nicola Nsabimana, who had captained the junior team for four years, had to quit football after twisting his ankle during a 2005 season league match against La Jeunnese in Byumba. “The coach and the treasurer both took advantage of my injury to edge me off the squad by not giving me treatment and lying to the club’s sponsors, Sorwathe, that I stole all the team’s jersey,” the former Zebra defender disclose to Times Sport recently. Looking bitter in his face, he Nsabimana added, “They did this to divert their attention from my injury so that they could end my career,” before admitting that he took only the jersey number 16, which was his squad number at the club. The coach and the treasurer, Nsabimana said, hated him because he would ask them why some things he had signed for on behalf of the team were not available and the two would misunderstand his responsibility to the juniors. “They only gave me ten thousand francs to come to Kigali for treatment and when I went back to ask for more money to go through the X-ray as the doctor had prescribed they said that I was lying and that it was just a simple injury that would heal in a few days,” the 22 year old said. “It still hurts me and I can hardly jog but I am optimistic that it is still treatable,” he said adding that he depended on football to cater for his school fees and other needs and that the injury halted his revenue. He was a Groupe Scolaire APAPEB-Byumba senior five student by the time of the unfortunate match. Eric Harerimana, coach of the senior team, admitted that the youth had captained the junior Zebras for three years, 2001-2003, but said that he could not remember in which match the player had incurred the injury. “The juniors have no contract with the team but they are entitled to treatment like others and Nsabimana was eligible for treatment. But I don’t know what happened between him and the treasurer because I was not their coach,” Harerimana said. Harerimana had earlier said that the youth incurred the injury while playing for Bugesera school team. According to Harerimana, the treasurer Antoin Dusengimana, is responsible for the whole team irrespective of their status with the club and therefore he should have financed the treatment of all players, Nsabimana inclusive. He, however, said that the player could have been a victim of the three months period, in 2006, when the club was bankrupt to even pay its players in the senior team. Zebra were relegated from the topflight division to the second division after finishing last season bottom of the table standing. Ends
