Atraco players to sue club

Soccer THIS has been a season to forget for Atraco and yet, incredibly, the coming weeks are already promising an even more tortuous ordeal. A group of twenty players have threatened to drag the 2009 Cecafa Kagame Cup champions to the courts of law for refusing to pay up salaries equating to four months. The players have also written a three-page letter to the office of the ombudsman, Ministry of Sports and Culture (Minispoc) as well as the local football federation (Ferwafa) asking the trio to intervene. “Most of us have families, rent houses and have so many other responsibilities to take care of but we are not in position to do anything because the club has simply refused to pay us,” the letter read in part. It is reported that before the 2010 Cecafa Kagame Cup which was won by APR, every player received a motivation package of Rwf50,000. A few days after the tournament, the club pulled out of the Primus League and MTN Peace Cup on grounds of financial incapacitation. Times Sport could not get a comment from the club by press time as the club’s top officials (president, first and second vice president) declined to speak on the issue. It is said that Ferwafa and Minispoc are set to meet and address the issue. In the 2007-08 season, Atraco won the national football league under Jean Marie Ntagwabira. Two years later, the club rewrote history by winning the Cecafa/Kagame Cup on their debut under the tutelage of Sam Timbe. Kitagenda was the hero of the night, after scoring the only goal of the match in the 15th minute against Sudan’s El Merreikh. On top of the trophy, Atraco bagged US$50,000. Ends