Ntagwabira suspended, pleads innocence

COACH Jean Marie Ntagwabira has pleaded innocence after being suspended temporarily from football related activities by Rwanda Football Association (Ferwafa) over match-fixing allegations.Ferwafa’s CEO Michel Gasingwa said on Wednesday in a statement, “After hearing Jean Marie Ntagwabira’s side of story, the executive committee has decided to temporary suspend him from the national team and any other football related activities pending further investigations into match-fixing claims.”“We are going to carry out more investigations with everyone involved in this scandal before coming up with a final decision,” added Gasingwa.Meanwhile, Ntagwabira says his statements were misunderstood. “People misunderstood my Kinyarwanda. I did not say I was involved in match-fixing. What I did was a way of scouting on my opponent.”“I gave Issa (Baritonda) money because I wanted him to get me information on Rayon Sport players and the technical team, and this information helped us on the technical side because we won the game and that is all I needed,” noted Ntagwabira.The former Rwandan international shocked football fraternity on July 6 when he confessed to bribing Rayon players for a 2009 league match with SC Kiyovu - which he coached at the time.He admitted to using Baritonda to bribe Rayon players to throw the match against his side. The encounter ended 3-2 in favour of Kiyovu.Kiyovu finished fourth that season but were promoted to third following the withdrawal from the league by Atraco that had finished second and Etincelles in third.But the former APR and Atraco coach added after learning of Ferwafa’s temporary action, “What I did was not match-fixing. I have never been involved in fixing matches and I never will.”The 38-year old is the only coach to ever win the national football league with two different clubs APR (4) and Atraco (1), and was rated by many as the best Rwandan coach ever.He was also Dujkovic Ratomir’s assistant in 2004 when Rwanda made it’s maiden appearance at the finals tournament of the African Cup of Nations held in Tunisia.If found guilty of match-fixing, Ntagwabira may face a five-year ban from all football related activities in Rwanda.

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Ntagwabira suspended, pleads innocence