Kenyan midfielder injured in crowd trouble during CAF match
Midfielder Anthony Akumu could miss Harambee Stars crucial Africa Cup of Nations qualifying clash against Guinea Bissau on Wednesday.
The player sustained injuries on his face at the hands of hooligans during a CAF Africa Champions League match in Guinea on Sunday night.
The Zambian-based midfielder was one of three Kenyan players who featured for Zesco United in the second leg of the first round clash against Guinea’s AS Horaya at the Stade du Septembre 28 in Conakry.
But while two of his compatriots David “Calabar” Owino and Jesse Were plus the entire “timu ya ziko” squad came through the clash unscathed in this high stakes match, 23 year old Akumu was not that lucky.
MISSILE
The former Gor Mahia and Al Khartoum (Sudan) midfielder was reportedly caught in the eye by a “missile” thrown from the terraces by a presumably frustrated fan.
Zesco lost the match 2-0 with all the goals coming from the penalty spot, but still qualified to the next round of the competition via a 4-3 aggregate score.
The Zambian champions later uploaded a photo of a heavily bandaged face of Akumu, accompanied by a message confirming the attack its official media page.
The message read in full: “The officiating was very bad and the atmosphere was very tense in the stadium. At half time and in the 2nd half when they saw there team could not score, Horoya fans started throwing stones at our players and one of our player Akumu was injured. The team is at the hotel now.”
STARTED BLEEDING
When contacted, Akumu said: “I was worried after the stone hit me. When I started bleeding I feared I’d lose my eyesight. I have been treated by the club doctors but will have to undergo another assessment by the national team doctors to determine if I will plat on Wednesday.”
Akumu, Were and Owino are expected to fly directly to Bissau from Conakry Tuesday morning to link up with their international teammates who were expected to arrive there Monday evening.
