APR appoints Nshimiyimana

THIRTEEN-TIME league champions APR have appointed Eric Nshimiyimana as their new head coach, a year after the 39-year old coach was sacked under mysterious circumstances.The club chairman Maj. Gen. Alex Kagame said yesterday that Nshimiyimana will manage the military side effective Thursday when the team begins their pre-season training.“Eric (Nshimiyimana) is the new coach, who has been brought in to manage a crop of young Rwandan players who will comprise APR FC in the upcoming national football league season,” General Kagame told Times Sport.However, Kagame noted that they will determine the duration of the contract before the club starts pre-season training since, as of press time, talks between the two parties were still ongoing.“We have agreed with him (Nshimiyimana) to coach the team, but contract details will be communicated later after we finalise talks before he embarks on the club’s assignments for the new season this week,” added Kagame.The former Rwandan international towering midfielder, who was part of the Amavubi team that played at the 2004 African Cup of Nations in Tunisia, replaces Dutchman Ernest Brandts, whose contract expired on July 31.APR will reveal to the media the identity of their new signings on Thursday as the club is still in talks with some of the Isonga players, who were released last week. But, according to reliable sources, attacking midfielder Bonny Bayingana (Express FC) and striker Andrew Buteera (Proline FC), both in the Ugandan Super League, have agreed terms to join the reigning Primus league and MTN Peace Cup champions.Nshimiyimana returns to the military side he played for and coached before he was sacked after the national league champion accused him of being involved in ‘juju’ in the build-up to Amavubi’s 3-1 defeat against Burundi in the Nations’ cup qualifier last year.He faced similar allegations back in 2006 when he was APR’s assistant coach and was sacked, but was reinstated months later.To date, APR has never released any proof linking Nshimiyimana with witchcraft though they stated that he was sacked to pave way for further investigations.Last season, he guided Isonga FC to finish in sixth position with 32 points in the Primus National Football League.

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APR appoints Nshimiyimana