Rayon file complaint against APR over players

MTN Peace Cup finalTodayPolice vs APR 3:30pm (Amahoro stadium)WILL APR play this afternoon’s MTN Peace cup final against Police? This was the subject of debate yesterday after Rayon Sports lodged a complaint with Ferwafa accusing the military side of using three ineligible players in the semi-final second leg tie on Sunday.APR won 1-0 which took their aggregate to 4-1 having defeated the Blues 3-1 in the first leg. The three players in question include; striker Barnabé Mubumbyi, wingers Maxime Sekamana and Nova Bayama were unused substitutes for APR.But according to Rayon Sports’ Secretary General Olivier Gakwaya, the trio played for Intare, a second division side in the preliminary round of the competition against Kiyovu.“Those three players played (for Intare) against Kiyovu in the preliminary round of the Peace Cup and though APR later bought them, they remained ineligible to play for another club in the same competition,” Gakwaya told Times Sport yesterday.He added, “It is very clear that APR didn’t adhere to Ferwafa rules which stipulate that a player cannot play for two different clubs in the same competition in one season,” the official said before adding that his team is ready to play the final if APR is disqualified.However, in a confident tone, APR Secretary General Adolphe Kalisa dismissed the Blues’ claims, wondering why the referee and match commissioner did not stop the players from being included on the list if they were ineligible.“APR bought these players and we have their licenses for proof. It is the referee and match commissioner’s work to determine whether players should be put on the team sheet or not.“Before the match, we gave the match officials our list of players and licenses and there was no objection to them playing,” Kalisa said, adding that it is not his duty to know whether a certain player is eligible to play or not.Ferwafa’s Chief Executive Officer Michel Gasigwa acknowledged receiving Rayon’s complaint, in a telephone interview with this paper, and promised a quick verdict but, by press time, nothing had come out of the national football governing body headquarters in Remera.The MTN Peace Cup final is slated for this afternoon but with a possibility that APR’s win over Rayon Sports considered null and void, this will go down as the biggest controversy to mar the competition since it started in 1995.