Stricken Ndikumana prays for Covid relief

Bandari goalkeeper Justin Ndikumana is hoping for a coronavirus negative test result on Wednesday. 

The Burundian international tested positive and was consequently placed on isolation from March 22 after arriving in Bujumbura for the final 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Burundi hosted Central Africa Republic and played Morocco away in their final qualifiers but missed on the Afcon ticket after finishing third in pool E of the qualifiers.

Despite the stigma milling around the virus, the shot stopper has come out to publicly announce his status even though he maintains that he has been asymptomatic from the time he has confirmed positive.

He revealed that he tested negative before leaving Kenya only to get dissimilar results upon arriving in Bujumbura and was placed in isolation in one of the hotels owned by the federation.

Interestingly, his family alongside a number of Burundi players who are attached to Kenyan clubs tested negative.

Ndikumana who could not hide his frustrations for spending almost twenty days in quarantine and missing the two ties said he was looking to test negative for the second consecutive team and leave the seclusion room.

"After our last match against Wazito, I tested negative ready for international duty. I arrived in Bujumbura and as part of the procedure before checking in camp, I did the test which returned positive. I was placed in isolation and I am yet to leave. I did a test three days ago which came out negative and I am praying for a similar result on Wednesday which will guarantee me freedom," he narrated.

The 2019 best goalkeeper of the season runner up called on players who test positive to help fight the stigma associated with the disease by coming out making their status known. The gloveman who is looking forward to return to his club said going public will not only eliminate stigma but also help in contact tracing.

"The only way we can kick out stigma is by coming out and letting the public know of your status. In Europe, clubs have disclosing the status of their players and I don't see the reason whey we should hide ours," he added.