Former Rayon striker Bimenyimana refutes rumours of Kiyovu signing

Bonfils Caleb Bimenyimana, a Burundi international and striker whose vital goals propelled Rayon Sports to the quarter-finals of the 2018 Caf Confederation Cup, has been spotted in training at SC Kiyovu with rising speculations that he could sign for the club. The Burundi international is said to have signed for an unspecified Ukrainian club earlier this year, but he was not able to play for them following the recent crisis in the European country. Bimenyimana, 24, was instrumental as Rayon romped to their eighth league title in 2017 before making history as the first Rwandan side to go past the group stage of the Caf Confederation Cup the following year. In an interview with a local FM radio, Bimenyimana declined that he did not sign for Kiyovu, underlining that he was only training with the club for ‘fitness purposes’. “I am in Rwanda because I am not playing at the moment as a result of the war in Ukraine,” he said. “I am training with SC Kiyovu for fitness purposes, I have not signed for them.” However, Bimenyimana revealed, he would be free to look for a new club at the end of April according to Fifa guidelines for players about the Ukrainian conflict. “Concerning the situation in Ukraine, in order to provide players and coaches with the opportunity to work and receive a salary, and to protect Ukrainian clubs … all employment contracts of foreign players and coaches with clubs affiliated to the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) will be deemed automatically suspended … without the need for any action from the parties to this effect,” Fifa said in a statement last month. Asked about why he chose to train with Kiyovu instead of his former club Rayon, Bimenyimana explained that he had a previous working relationship with SC Kiyovu head coach, Francis Haringingo, and did not have one with coaches at Rayon Sports. “I did not think Rayon Sports coach (Jorge Paixão) would allow me since he is still new at the club. It was easier for me to reach out to Haringingo,” said the former Rayon frontman. After a successful spell with Rayon Sports, which he had joined in 2017, Bimenyimana left the Blues for Latvian outfit FS Rigas in January 2019.